Out of The Past
by metgear5
Summary: Going after what seems like a routine bounty the Bebop crew encounters the Red Dragons newest and deadliest enforcer. Crossover with Terminator
1. Introduction

Forward: Cowboy Bebop is the property of Sunrise entertainment. The second half of this crossover is property of Warner Brothers. You'll find out what in future chapters.

A/N: The time frame of this story is several months after the events in The Most Dangerous Game

Chapter 1: Introduction

Somewhere on Mars

As the sun started to go down shops began to open in preparation for the nightlife, while others were closing down for the night. An elderly gentleman who owned a small shop was just starting to close the doors for the night when a foot braced it open.

"I'm sorry but we are closed." The old man said. When he looked up and saw who was holding open the door he forgot about and stepped back in horror. Standing there were two men dressed in blue suits and hats, one with blond hair, one with red hair. Despite the time of day both had on sunglasses and carried an air of intimidation.

"Sorry gramps but it's not quite closing time yet." The blond haired one said as they pushed their way in. The shopkeeper backed up and Blond cornered him. The red haired one started knocking items onto the floor and overturning shelves. "I thought we had an agreement here gramps." Blond said, ignoring the noise his partner was making trashing the place. "You pay the Blue Snakes twenty percent of your profits and you'll be protected. Now here it is time to pay your bills and we haven't seen one Woolong from you. Now if you think you can protect this place without us …. "

"Business has been bad." The shop owner interrupted. "I've barely made enough to make ends meet. Please give me another week I swear I'll have the money for you by then." He pleaded. Blond laughed in his face.

"Well lookie what we've got here." He called to Red, who was finished ransacking the place. "The old man here is trying to lay a sob story on us." Red laughed at the statement. "Problem is, the boss expects people to live up to their obligations." He pulled a handgun from out of his suit pocket. He then took out a silencer and started to screw it on.

"Please!" The shop owner begged. "Just give me some more time!!" Blond didn't respond and raised his gun. The shop owner watched, unable to close his eyes. A sadistic grin spread across Blond's face and he quickly turned and shot out the shop's main display window. He then shot the cash register and all the security cameras.

"Listen up old man." Blond said after he finished his shooting spree and put his gun back, minus the silencer. "The boss is willing to forgive this little oversight and he will give you more time to get the money." The shop owner brightened up at this statement but Blond got that grin again. "You have three days to come up with twice the money you owe now. You don't, you're going to end up in so many pieces they won't be able to find enough of you to bury in a barf bag." The shop owner turned sheet white and began shaking. "Nice to see we have an understanding." He turned and motioned to his accomplice. "We should give this man time to think about how he's going to get us the money, or to get his affairs in order." They left the shop laughing. Behind them the shop owner began to sob.

"So do you think the old codger will have the dough in time?" Red asked. Blond shrugged.

"He'll find some way. They always do. And if he doesn't." He grinned and made as slashing motion across this throat with his thumb. On a street corner outside the shop a large man in a trench coat stood smoking a cigarette. He had brown hair and very alert blue eyes. When the two Blue Snakes came out he causally tossed his cigarette aside and started to follow them. The man made no efforts to disguise himself and after about half a block the two thugs noticed heavy footsteps behind them and glanced back. The man made no move to hide the fact he was following them, and continued as if they had never spotted him.

"What do you think?" Red whispered.

"Probably some mugger thinking we're easy hits. Let's show him who he's messing with." Red nodded and both turned into an alleyway and waited just around the corner. When the man entered the alley Blond stuck his gun under the man's chin. "Not smart to follow people down dark alleys." He laughed. "Now why were you following us?"

"You are members of the Blue Snakes syndicate." The man said in a strange accent. "I am looking for the one known as Alex Vega and you will take me to him." Even though he was bigger then either of them both thugs started laughing.

"Will you get a load of this guy!!" Blond exclaimed. "Expects to see the boss just because he wants to. Sorry man but nobody sees the boss without his say so."

"You will take me to him now." The man said flatly. Blond started and backed up.

"You're going to get what you deserve asshole!" He exclaimed and lined up his gun with the man's forehead. With speed not expected from one as big as he was the man grabbed Blond's wrist and twisted. Blond yelled in pain and with his free hand the man took the gun. Red had begun to reach for his own gun when the man turned and fired one shot. A small hole appeared in Red's forehead and he crumpled to the ground. The man twisted Blond's wrist further, almost breaking it.

"You will show me where Alex Vega is." He said, letting go of Blond's wrist and pointed the gun right between his eyes. "Or you get what you deserve." Blond looked from the muzzle of the gun to the man's face and could tell he meant it.

"All right." He agreed. [They'll just take care of you once you get there.] He thought to himself. The man nodded and put the gun in one of the trench coat's pockets, still pointing it at Blond.

"If you try to run I shoot you. If you try to signal for help I shoot you. Is that understood?"

"Yeah, sure pal whatever you say." Blond said, holding up his arms. The man gestured with the concealed gun.

"Move." He ordered. Blond shrugged and started walking. The man followed at a few steps behind, far enough away to keep suspicion to a minimal but still close enough to not be able to miss with the gun.

"You do know that Mr. Vega is not going to like this?" Blond asked.

"What he likes is none of my concern." The man replied. Blond decided to try another tactic.

"You do know that his body guards are going to kill you right?" He asked, trying for intimidation.

"You ask too many questions." Came the reply. Blond just shrugged his shoulders.

"Your funeral pal." Blond led them to a three-story building with two more men in blue suits guarding the doors. Stopping several yards away from it the man took Blond's gun out without him seeing it. "There you go pal one guaranteed ticket to the graveyard. Now if you're through with me…. " He turned and saw the man pointing the gun at him.

"Yes. Your usefulness has come to an end." He fired the gun, nailing Blond between the eyes. Alerted by the gunfire the door guards turned to see what had happened and saw a large man sprinting towards them and a dead man behind him. They went for their guns but the man was faster, pumping several rounds into both of them. With the handgun empty the man dropped it and took out twin Uzi's from shoulder holsters hidden beneath his trench coat. Bursting through the door he saw several more guards rushing towards the source of the gunfire. He fired both Uzi's and sprayed the area with lead, killing all the men rushing him. The area temporally cleared of enemies he ejected the clips from both his weapons and loaded in fresh ones. Walking forward he found one man still alive, clutching at his wounds. "Alex Vega, where is he?"

"Third floor, just let me live!!" The wounded guard pleaded. The man said nothing and walked towards the elevators. When the bodyguard tried to crawl towards a fallen weapon the man spun around and fired a three round burst into his chest. The bodyguard let out a gurgling sound and then collapsed. The man had a choice of two elevators. On the third floor the last ten of Vega's bodyguards waited. Five at each elevator, ready to fire into either one. When the one on the right dinged and began to move those five took aim. When the elevator reached he third floor the five fired their weapons through the doors until they clicked empty. When the elevator doors opened they saw a lot of bullet holes but the car was empty. The left one dinged and began to move. The five at the left readied their weapons and the five on the right reloaded and rushed over to meet the intruder with full force. In the car that had been shot up the escape hatch on the top opened and the man jumped down through it. He stepped out of the car and turned towards the bodyguards, all staring at the other elevator, waiting. One noticed and began to yell a warning but the man opened up with his Uzi's, completely decimating the group. His path now unimpeded he walked towards a door with the name Alex Vega on the front of it. Not expecting it be open the man kicked the door, which dented but did not yield. Reaching into his trench coat he took out a grenade, pulled the pin and dropped it at the base of the door. The explosion blew the door off its hinges and across the room. Stepping through the still smoking frame the man scanned the office. On the right side sitting at a desk was a bald man in a very expensive suit sitting behind a desk.

"You could have knocked." Vega said, seemingly unafraid of the heavily armed stranger that had just killed all of his bodyguards and blown his way into the office. "To whom do I have the honor of meeting?"

"I represent the Red Dragons." The man answered. "You have chosen to involve yourself in business that does not concern you. For that you are to be punished."

"What?" Vega said, playing innocent. "There hasn't been any sign of he Red Dragons in that section for months. I started extorting the area because the Dragons didn't. You can't fault me for taking a business opportunity can you?"

"You operated in an area that was not of your clan. There is no forgiving such an offence." The man replied flatly. Vega shrugged.

"Then I guess I have no choice." He said seeming to give in. His hand went under his desk and he pulled out a small pistol and was able to fire two shots. Both hit the man in the chest but he gave only the slightest flinch before firing one bullet that hit Vega in the shoulder, making him drop the gun. Vega looked at the man then back at the gun, trying to figure the odds of him reaching it before he would be shot. The man wasn't going to give him the chance.

"Don't." He warned and motioned with one of his guns to move away from the desk, which Vega followed. Letting one gun clatter to the ground he used his now free hand to bring out a small device from his coat and flicked a switch on it. "Go ahead." He spoke into it and placed it on the desk.

"Alex Vega." A voice said from the device. "I trust you have met with our messenger." Vega remained silent, thinking it was just a recording from the Red Dragon elders.

"Answer him." The man ordered. Vega cleared his throat.

"He's here."

"And did you manage to injure him in anyway?" The voice asked. Vega looked suspiciously at the man.

"I put two slugs into him but he didn't even feel it. Why?" Clapping could be heard over the speaker.

"Excellent. Agent? Have you been wounded?"

"No sir." The man answered. "The armor's integrity has held."

"Well done. The prototype has passed its first test. After the armor has been more thoroughly tested many more like it shall be produced."

"Wait a minute!!" Vega blurted. "You mean this was just a way to see if some fancy bulletproof vest works!?!?!"

"Partly." The voice answered. "This was an opportune time to test it but the reason you are to die is for your impertinence. Agent! Proceed as ordered." The man took out a small block of gray matter that had several wires in it as well as a keypad on it. The man pressed several buttons and a red light began to flash accompanied by a loud beeping sound. The man threw it across the office. "You now have five minutes to evacuate before the building is leveled. But we will give you a sporting chance. Proceed."

"Turn around." The man ordered. Vega complied.

"So I don't see which way you go right? Fine by me pal just …." He was cut off by a gunshot and a searing pain in his back. He fell to the floor, unable to move his legs. He tired to crawl but his wounded arm refused to work. "YOU BASTARD!!!" He shouted to the man as he dropped his remaining weapon and ran out of the room.

"If you hurry you might be able to make it to the bomb and figure out a way to stop it." The voice said. "If you don't you have the honor of being the first to die with the knowledge that the Dragon's claws will soon crush all enemies in the solar system." The device went silent. Slowly and painfully Vega dragged himself towards the bomb. The beeping became faster as he got closer. He could make out the numbers now. They were at ten. With one last gasp of energy his hand made contact with the bomb just as the countdown reached zero.

The man sprinted down the stairs and was met by police on their way up. Taking out an authentic looking badge he flashed it and started talking.

"Detective Smith, Mars PD. There's a bomb up on the third floor set to go off at any minute. I need this building evacuated immediately." Not pausing to ask questions the cops turned and went back down, yelling for everyone to get out. They all ran through the lobby and out of the building. The man kept running and did not look back. The other cops started to call out to him just as the building exploded in a ball of flame and with a thunderous roar. The mystery detective was forgotten as they rushed to deal with the destruction and the aftermath. Meanwhile the mysterious Red Dragon operative disappeared into the night.


	2. Picking up the Trail

Chapter 2: Picking Up the Trail

On board the Bebop everyone was gathered in the lounge, looking through the newest bounties available. None of them were worth going after.

"We haven't had a decent bounty to go after in months. What happened? Did everybody suddenly decide to be nice to each other?" Faye asked.

"It's been that way ever since the incident with that Predator." Jet answered. "Since it was mainly criminals he went after everybody has been lying low, afraid that if they do anything they're going to end up skinned and beheaded."

"And the worst part is we can't tell anyone he's gone." Faye grumbled.

"They must be really spooked to, the highest bounty out there now is only two thousand for some no name arsonist." Spike put in. "For a change we aren't so desperate for supplies and we can afford to wait for something better."

"Speak for yourself." Faye snorted as she stood up. "We've been on Mars for almost a week waiting for new something to pop up and I'm starting to get cabin fever." She picked up her jacket and headed towards the hangar.

"Where are you headed?" Jet asked.

"I'm going after that arsonist." She said.

"It's not like you to go after the small fish Faye." Spike pointed out.

"Two thousand is better then nothing." She called back. Spike and Jet just shrugged.

"I have to admit, I'm getting a little stir crazy myself." Spike said. "Even going after the small frys almost seems like fun right about now."

"You need to have more patience Spike." Jet spoke up. "Persistence has its own payoff."

"First time I've seen persistence means doing nothing." Spike noted. Jet was about to say something when a window flashing 'Update' appeared on the screen. Clicking on it a new bounty profile popped up. The first thing the two of them noticed was the three million bounty posted on the head of the con in question.

"See Spike? Good things come to those who wait." Jet said. Spike raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Both began to study the profile. The mugshot was a grainy photograph that looked like it was taken from a security camera and zoomed in. "This is new. Most of the information is blank. Name, age, planet of origin, its like this guy was dropped out of the sky."

"Well he dropped in with a bang." Spike said. "He's wanted for twenty one counts of murder, all at the same time." Jet said nothing and clicked on a button that said 'More information' on it. Footage from a security camera began to play. It showed a lobby of some building that was occupied by several men wearing suits. A faint crack was heard, followed by several more in rapid succession. The suits looked at each other in confusion then started to pull out weapons. Gunfire came from off screen and the suits began to fall, some being torn to shreds by the stream of bullets. A large man stepped into the camera's view, armed with two machine pistols, both smoking, and began to search the area for any other signs of resistance. The camera got a clear shot of his face and both Spike and Jet saw it was the new bounty. The man calmly reloaded his weapons and walked forward. He began talking with a wounded man but the words were inaudible. As the man started walking towards the elevators the wounded suit reached for his fallen gun the man turned and pumped more rounds into him and he fell over dead. The screen spilt into two halves, each showing the security footage from each elevator. The man walked into one elevator, pulled off the button panel and began crossing wires. When he was finished he went over to the second one and casually pushed the up button. As the elevator started moving he opened the hatch in the ceiling and climbed through.

"Smarter then he looks." Jet stated. Spike nodded in agreement. The car the man had been in came to a stop and the doors opened. Gunfire again roared as a hail of bullets shot apart the interior of the car. The camera, being in the ceiling of the car, managed to survive. Shouts were heard and after a moment the man reopened the hatch and climbed back down into the car, taking out his guns. Walking out he turned and began firing. The next camera footage came from inside an office. Sitting at a desk was a bald man calmly doing paperwork and only after an explosion that threw a door across the room did he stop and look up. Jet paused the film. "Recognize that guy?" Spike nodded.

"Alex Vega. Medium level flunky for the Blue Snakes syndicate. Had a five million Woolong bounty on him but it was dropped after evidence of his crimes was lost and witnesses started disappearing. Looks like the big guy has a bone to pick with him." Jet restarted the recording. Vega spoke with no fear in his voice and asked who the man was. In a strange accent the man answered he was part of the Red Dragons. Jet glanced at Spike but Spike gave no reaction to the statement. The man then went into an explanation that sounded like just a fancy way of saying Vega had operated on the wrong turf. Vega seemed to give in but he pulled a gun and shot the man twice before fire was returned. What was odd was that the man didn't seem to feel the bullets striking him. "That was interesting." Spike stated. "Body armor?"

"Most likely." Jet answered. "Look, no blood on the floor so he didn't hurt the guy. Most good vests can stop anything short of a rifle round and this guy looks strong enough to take the shock from the impact." While they were talking they missed the conversation between Vega and the Red Dragon elder. When they turned their attention back to the screen them man was arming some sort of bomb. He threw it across the room and then ordered Vega to turn around. He then shot Vega and the Blue Snake underboss fell to the ground. "We know the rest." Jet stated as he stopped the recording. "So what do you think?"

"Looks like the Dragons have recovered from their encounter with the Predator enough to start up again. They start hitting other syndicates and bounty hunters work clean up."

"I mean do you think we should go after him?"

"Well, let's look at what we've got. An unknown hitman, smart, strong, a very good shot and wearing body armor." He seemed to consider it for a moment then shrugged. "Why not? After the Predator this is going to be a piece of cake."

"Then let's get going." Jet said. "We'll start with the area of that building he blew up." Somebody had to have seen him and possibly saw where he went." As they went to that hangar a thought struck Jet. "You think we should let Faye in on this?"

"Nah." Both said after half a second of thought. They took a net launcher along with them since their guns would be ineffective if he was wearing his body armor.

"Think catching this guy is going to be as easy as you said?" Jet asked as they prepared to take off.

"If we get the drop on him we'll have him in jail so fast he won't know what hit him." Spike answered.

Red Dragon Headquarters

At that moment the bounty in question was standing before the three Red Dragon elders. Now dressed in a traditional uniform of the clan he gave his report on the elimination of Alex Vega.

"You have done well agent." Wang Long started.

"You have proven yourself an invaluable addition to our clan." Ping Long continued.

"And by doing so you have shown yourself worthy of another assignment." Sou Long finished.

"Who is to be my next target?" The agent asked, ignoring the praise he had received.

"There will be no specific targets this time." Wang Long explained. "We have killed the head viper but there is always more then one snake in a nest. You are to find anyone from Vega's operations who are still alive. When you have found them you are to deal with them in the appropriate manner."

"As you command." The agent replied.

"One should never be so eager to obey." A voice said from behind the agent. The agent turned and the elders looked up to see Vicious entering the room. "It's a sign of weakness."

"The matter we are discussing does not concern you Vicious! You would be wise to keep to your own matters!" Wang Long warned.

"I kept to my own matters and this was the result." Vicious answered, gesturing toward the agent.

"You fear you are being replaced Vicious. Such a reaction from you is unheard of." Ping Long said with some amusement. Vicious responded with a cold stare.

"I fear nothing." He said in an emotionless voice. "What you are doing will lead the entire clan to ruin."

"You seem very sure of yourself." Sou Long noted.

"I have seen the laboratories." Vicious said. "You've finally managed to synthesize the metal of that alien spear, and with it created an almost indestructible new type of armored vest. I've also seen the genetics lab and read the data on what is being created." He paused for a moment to gauge the reactions of the other four. The agent's face remained unchanged and the elders began to show signs of anger. "Cloning has always been unreliable, but yet you have ordered the creation of clones to be used as assassins. All of them genetically engineered for maximum strength and efficiency, but for minimum intelligence, thus ensuring complete loyalty. One who cannot think for themselves will not question what they are told. Equip them with the new vests and you have a perfect enforcer. You may think replacing every member of this organization with one of these gives the illusion you are solidifying power but if they were to develop a mind of their own they would be able to overthrow you with little effort."

"And how do respond to this agent?" Ping Long asked. The agent looked Vicious right in the eye.

"I am fully capable of making decisions without orders. I will never act against my superiors." He said in a voice as emotionless as Vicious had. "And I am more intelligent then you are." He stated flatly. Vicious returned the agent's unwavering stare but the other man refused to back down.

"I believe you have your answer standing right in front of you." Sou Long stated. "There were many failed experiments but before you stands evidence of our success. You should accept that there is now another who holds a position just as high as you, and who this clan holds in higher esteem then yourself." Vicious glanced at the elders then back to the agent.

"More intelligent then I am?" He favored the agent with a humorless grin. "If you believe that, you are truly a fool. I do not yield so easily."

"Neither do I." The agent responded. The grin left Vicious' face when he saw the agent unwilling to back down.

"Do as you will then." He said and left the chambers.

"Your analysis?" Wang Long asked the agent after they were sure Vicious had gone.

"He is unaware." Was the agent's reply.

"Very good." Ping Long said. "The less truth Vicious knows the better." He motioned to one of the guards, who gave the agent a palmtop computer. "A list of the most likely places you will find what remains of Vega's agents, as well as the times they are most likely to be at those locations. If someone attempts to directly interfere with you mission they must be dealt with, but there is to be no unnecessary killing. To do so would bring unwanted attention upon yourself and us. You will find and eliminate those listed, and do not return until you have done so. Above all you are to not allow anyone to find out you're true nature."

"As you command." The agent said with a salute and left the chambers to prepare for his mission. As soon as he stepped out of the doors he was picked up my multiple cameras. Watching was Vicious and a security technician that was part of his growing opposition to the current leadership of the Red Dragons.

"Have the arrangements been made?" He asked the technician.

"As you have ordered sir. The bounty has been put into effect. With any luck some bounty hunter will find and catch him within an hour."

"And in the process show how undependable artificial soldiers are, even perfect ones." Vicious finished. "However we cannot depend on the off chance that he will be captured. Have you developed a backup in case the first plan fails?" The technician nodded.

"We have the time and place, and we believe we have found the perfect candidate to do the job. Unfortunately cooperation has not been easy to come by." The tech waited nervously for Vicious to react at the bad news.

"Tell whoever it is there will be a substantial bonus if they agree to do this, and no questions asked. Bottom feeders always cooperate if you throw them enough money. See to it right away."

"Yes sir." The tech responded, relieved that Vicious had not become angry. Vicious turned and left, deep in his own thoughts. This new card in the deck was interfering with his plans. He had seen the unwavering loyalty the agent and immediately had him gauged as a threat. This man, this genetically engineered freak, had shown no hint of fear during their encounter. That made him dangerous, everyone who Vicious encountered were afraid of him, on one level or another. Even the elders, for all their posturing and threats, feared him. In all the solar system the only one that did not fear him was Spike, his only equal. That led to the very real possibility that the agent was also his equal, and his bid for leadership would be endangered. As soon as he had heard about the assassination of Vega he knew the agent had to be dealt with. He could not do it himself, so he would have the bounty hunters do it for him. If fate was truly kind the agent and bounty hunters would kill each other and that would be the end of it. After that, nothing would stop him.

In a subway station not far from the Red Dragon's headquarters Jet and Spike were planing their search. Some cops had given them trouble when they saw the bulky net launcher Jet was carrying but after they had explained they were bounty hunters they had been left alone.

"I'll take the west side of town." Jet said, pointing at a wall map of the city and raising his voice to make sure he was heard over a train that was beginning to pull in. "You take the east. If either of us find our bountyhead we radio his position and follow the target until the other arrives. Got it?"

"Yeah, sure." Spike replied as he leaned against the wall and lazily looked around. "Hey Jet. You're not going to believe this but our bounty just got off the train."

"No kidding? This must be our lucky day." Jet casually turned around and seemed not to look at any one thing but immediately picked out their bounty. Wearing a trenchcoat he stood about six eight, and heavily muscled, with brown hair and an emotionless face. He swept his head from side to side, carefully scanning the crowd with very alert eyes. When he looked over at Jet and Spike both remained calm and the man just kept looking. Satisfied that nothing was amiss the man started walking.

"He's no slouch, I'll give him that much." Spike admitted. "You want to try and take him here or someplace else?" Jet did a quick analysis of the situation. Because the man had waited the platform was now almost empty. Now would be the best time to make a move. Jet brought out the net launcher and Spike took out his gun to give Jet cover if he needed it. Jet fired and the unlike most people who froze at the loud noise the man kept on walking until the net hit him. Acting even weirder the man just stopped, he didn't struggle or curse or try to get away, he just stopped dead in his tracks. He then turned around, the weighted net giving him no problems.

[Well that's no big surprise.] Jet thought to himself. The man was big enough to be half the defensive line of a football team. The man began to reach into his coat. Aloud Jet said "Ok big guy, just keep those hands were we can see them!" The man paused and looked like he was debating whether or not to ignore Jet. In the end he removed his hand and studied the situation.

"Told you this would be easy." Spike said.

"My business does not concern you." The man spoke up. "Leave now or you will be dealt with." Spike gave him a confused look and Jet laughed.

"Sorry friend, but you're going to the police station so we can cash in on that three million bounty that's on your head." The man narrowed his eyes and grabbed the net that held him captive.

"Wrong." He said and tore the net apart as easily as it was made of string. Spike aimed and fired but the man took the bullet to the chest with no reaction and threw the remnants of the net at Spike, almost knocking the gun from his hand. Sprinting forward he slammed into Spike like a truck, sending him flying for several feet, and sliding for several more. Not having time to draw his own gun Jet lunged forward and aimed a punch at the man's had with his artificial arm. The man caught the punch and held it with no apparent effort. With his other arm the man grabbed Jet by the throat and lifted him off the ground like he weighed nothing. "You were warned." He said and started crushing Jet's windpipe when something struck him across the head.

Spike got up groggily. He had tried to prepare himself for the blow but the man hit him like a freight train, knocking him unconscious. When he woke up the first thing he noticed he had somehow held onto his gun. The second thing he noticed was the man was holding Jet up by his throat. Knowing the armor would withstand his shots and not wanting to kill the man when he could take him alive he struck the man with the butt of his pistol as hard as he could. Not only did the man not seem to feel it but the gun broke over his head. Before the realization could set in the man dropped Jet, spun around and punched Spike in the jaw. Spike again literally went flying and landed hard. Jet tried to reach for his own gun but the man was quicker. He grabbed Jet's shirt with both hands then threw him into the wall with so much force the wall actually cratered. Jet tired to get up but the impact had stunned him so badly he couldn't move. The man reached into his coat and Jet could see he was drawing a large handgun. He knew that this was the end and closed his eyes. Instead of hearing a gunshot he heard a shout.

"FREEZE!!" Jet opened his eyes and saw the man looking behind him. Several ISSP officers were rushing onto the platform, guns drawn. The man put the gun back and, to the surprise of Jet and the cops, jumped off the platform. Taking off in a sprint the man ran down one of the tunnels faster then anyone Jet had ever seen run. Two of the cops pointed their flashlights into the darkness but the man was already gone. Once the area was secure a med team was brought down. As one paramedic checked Jet for internal injuries another was waving smelling salts under Spike's nose and he was slowly coming around.

"What the hell happened? " The senior officer asked Jet.

"We got our asses kicked." Jet answered. The senior officer looked down the tunnel the man had run down.

"Any idea who that was?" Jet just shook his head.

"A nameless bounty we were after that had a few surprises up his sleeve."

As the police tired to sort things out the agent continued to run. The run in with the bounty hunters was unforeseen but it had not compromised his mission. Obeying his orders he didn't kill them to keep any pursuit to a minimum. He was not concerned that the bounty hunters recognized him. Their brush with death would serve a warning to keep them from perusing him further. After running for half a mile he came to a maintenance tunnel and turned into it. Arriving back on the surface he first determined his location and then started towards the first location he had been given. Now that he was back on target he would let nothing stop him.


	3. Not what it Seems

Chapter 3: Not What It Seems

On board the Bebop Spike and Jet sat in the lounge, sulking. Their injuries turned out to be less severe then originally thought. Spike had several bruised ribs and his jaw had swelled up. Jet's back was a mass of bruises and was speaking in a hoarse voice because of bruising on his throat. To be beaten was one thing. To be beaten by one guy who wasn't even trying, that was embarrassing. They were discussing if they should go after the mystery bounty again when the door hissed open and Faye walked in carrying several large bags.

"While you two were sitting on your butts all day I actually …." She stopped as Jet and Spike glared at her and she saw their bruised faces. "What happened to you guys?"

"We ran into some trouble." Spike answered.

"Looks more like trouble ran into you." Faye replied. Jet grumbled something and Spike shot her a nasty look, knowing how right she was. "Well while you two were busy getting your asses handed to you I managed to find a prime bounty, worth three million." Spike and Jet exchanged looks.

"This bounty," Jet said. "wouldn't happen to have brown hair, be about six foot eight and built like a tank would he?" Faye gave him a surprised look.

"That's right. How'd you know that?"

"Because he's the one that, as you put it, handed our asses to us." Spike said. "This guy is a lot stronger then you'd think, and there's something else you should know about him."

"What? The body armor he wears?" Now it was Jet and Spike's turn to looked surprised.

"And how did you know about that?" Jet asked.

"The same way I found out about the bounty." Faye answered. "I was having a drink when someone told me that a new bounty had shown up. He said that in addition to the bounty he offered a bonus if I agreed to take it. So I did, they even told me where and when to find him. I just came back to drop off a few things then collect the easiest three million I've ever seen."

"You're going after him alone?" Jet asked.

"That's right." Faye answered as she checked her handgun.

"Then you know that he won't even feel that." Spike said, pointing at her gun.

"That's why on my way back I got this." Faye responded. She reached into one of the bags and brought out a sawed off shotgun.

"Nice try Faye but he's about as likely to feel that buckshot as he was to feel that bullet Spike put into him."

"That's why I did my homework." Faye replied, smiling. She took a small box out of the bag and tossed it to Jet, who examined it.

"Slug ammo?" Jet said. Faye nodded and smiled again. Instead of being hit with numerous, small lead pellets the person would be hit by several lead slugs the size of a thirty-eight-caliber bullet.

"Even someone wearing the best body armor is going to feel that." Faye said confidently. She took the box back, opened it and began loading the shotgun. Because it was cut down it would only take five shells. She pumped the gun, chambering a round, and inserted another shell, bringing the total up to six. She put the gun into one of her larger bags, effectively hiding it. She then took a handful of extra shells and put them into her pockets.

"You want backup on this?" Spike asked.

"Not a chance." Faye replied. "You big tough bounty hunters had your chance and you blew it. This three million is all mine." Spike and Jet watched her leave.

"Think we should follow her?" Jet asked. Spike shook his head.

"If she thinks she can do this let her. She can't do any worse then we did."

An hour later saw Faye walking into Red Eyes, one of the many dives in the city. It was a small bar and almost empty when she got there. Just some regulars sitting at the counter, one slumped over onto it. She got whistles from the ones still sober enough to see straight but ignored them and approached the bartender.

"Evening Miss." He said in a friendly tone. "Don't get many people who look like you in this place. What can I get you tonight?" Faye smiled.

"Just a beer." The bartender nodded and gave her one. "I'm supposed to be meeting a friend here and I was wondering if he had arrived yet. Big guy, with brown hair, you can't miss him." The bartender shook his head.

"Sorry Miss but I haven't seen him."

"Oh that's alright." Faye assured him. "I'll just wait." She went over to a booth and sat down, setting her bag within easy reach. She checked her watch. Eight fifteen, if her contact was right he should be here in fifteen minutes. About ten minutes later a man in a wrinkled suit and disheveled face stumbled in, obviously drunk.

"Hey Mike." The bartender said. "Rough night?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." Mike answered. "Give me the usual." He moaned and clutched his stomach. "Be right back." He said as he rushed to the bathroom. The bartender shook his head and laughed.

"What's his problem?" Faye asked.

"Been down on his luck lately." He looked around to make sure no one was listening that shouldn't be. "You know that Blue Snakes building that exploded the other day." Faye nodded. "Well he used to work there. Money laundering I hear. If he hadn't been here getting wasted he would have been blown to kingdom come with the rest of those poor saps. In fact…." The bartender stopped as he heard the door open. He and Faye looked and saw a large man in a trenchcoat enter. Seeing his picture was one thing, seeing him in person, that was another. His size and air that he carried himself with told everybody around not to mess with him or they would be very sorry. He said nothing and looked at the patrons. Not finding what he was looking for he walked up to the bar.

"I am looking for Michael Jones. Is he here?" The man said with no preamble. The bartender seemed stunned at the man's bluntness and Faye decided to make her move. Deciding to try cunning instead of force she walked up beside the stranger.

"Hey stranger. I don't think I've ever seen you around before." She said in her sexiest voice. The man's head turned, almost seemed to swivel, in her direction, which Faye found slightly unnerving. He looked her up and down.

"I am here on important business." The man responded emotionlessly. "I do not have time to consort with prostitutes." The bartender snickered and one of the drunks started laughing. Faye was furious about the remark but what enraged her was blunt and deadpan way he had said it.

"AND JUST WHAT THE HELL MADE YOU THINK I WAS A PROSTITUTE!?!?!" She roared. The bartender and the drunks cringed at the outburst but the man's face remained impassive.

"Your cloths, your mannerisms. All are consistent with women who prostitute themselves." He said in the same voice that sounded almost like a recording. He sounded like he was describing characteristics of a car! The bartender was now laughing and the drunks were roaring. Faye's face had turned solid red and her eye began to dangerously twitch. Everyone in the room could tell what was about to happen and backed up, still laughing, except the man who just continued with his alert but blank stare. Temporarily forgetting why she was there Faye wound up and slapped the man as hard as she could. Not only did the man not react to the slap but her palm was really starting to sting.

"Pig." She mumbled under her breath as she massaged her hand to get some feeling back into it.

"For your own safety do not do that again." The man warned. Faye turned another shade of red and was about to do a great impersonation of a volcano when the men's room door opened and Mike came stumbling out. The man turned, forgetting about Faye, to see what had caused the noise.

"Michael Jones?" He asked.

"Yeah. What of it?!" Mike answered in an alcohol-induced haze. As soon as those words left Mike's mouth the stranger reached into his coat and pulled out a very large handgun that Faye recognized. It was a Desert Eagle, fifty-caliber. A hand cannon by anyone's account. Normally guys who carried that gun were just trying to show how macho they could be when they really weren't. Not this guy, unlike everybody else she had seen he looked like he could actually use it. As he took aim Mike stood still like a deer in headlights. A loud roar came from the gun and a portion of Mike's head was blown away. He dropped to the floor, dead before he had even hit it. The action had taken everyone, including Faye, by surprise. Slowly she worked her way to her bag so she could grab her shotgun.

"Nobody saw anything here." The man stated. "If you go to the police or try to follow me you will receive the same. Is that understood?" He set his dead stare on everyone individually until he got a yes from all of them. No one was willing to say no after he had just killed a man without blinking. Faye faked being sick so she would be able to grab the shotgun without being conspicuous. He took her getting sick as an affirmative. The man lowered the gun to his side but did not put it back in his coat. He then turned and started to walk out as casually as if nothing had happened. With his back turned to her she took out the shotgun, set her feet and aimed in one fluid motion.

"Hold it right there asshole!" She commanded. The man froze in his tracks and Faye wasn't about to question why he decided to obey. "I'm not some hooker, I'm a bounty hunter and you just happen to be my next paycheck! So just turn around and drop your gun!!" The man did turn, so quickly Faye almost lost her concentration. He did not, however, drop his gun. He glanced at the shotgun Faye had pointed at him then back at her face. What he did next was unheard of. He didn't curse her or insult her; he didn't say anything. The silence made Faye nervous and her fears were justified. The man calmly raised his pistol but before he could get it into firing position Faye, out of reflex, squeezed the shotgun's trigger. The man jerked back as the blast hit him in the chest but he didn't lose his balance or his gun. In fact he again raised his gun and tried to get a shot. Faye pumped the handle and fired again, this time forcing the man to step backwards but he still would not go down. Again Faye pumped and fired. This time the blast lifted him off his feet and into the door, tearing it off its hinges. The man landed on his back and remained motionless. Inside Faye exhaled loudly, thinking the excitement over.

"Nice shooting Miss." Faye turned and saw the bartender brandishing his own shotgun taken from underneath the counter. "Sure was a tough bastard wasn't he?"

"Almost too tough." Faye answered. This wasn't right, the man should have been dropped by one blast at close range even if he was wearing steel plates. But he had taken three blasts from almost point blank range and had barely gone down. While Faye was puzzling over this the drunks wandered over to the man's prone form and began to examine it.

"Sure took a licking didn't he?" One slurred. They failed to notice that the man's fingers were twitching and his other hand still held his pistol.

"Yep." The other one agreed. He then pointed at the areas hit by the shotgun slugs. "Hey would you get a load of this. It looks like…. " The drunk never got a chance to say what he saw as the man grabbed his throat with his free hand and crushed it like a straw. The drunk fell to the ground, clutching his throat and desperately trying to inhale. His face began to turn blue and he went limp as his oxygen-starved brain gave out. The other three drunks stepped back cautiously as the man got to his feet, none the worse for ware after his experience. The drunks turned around and began running. The man raised his gun and fired three quick shots. All three of the drunks fell and did not move. As this was happening Faye and the bartender stood frozen in wonder and horror as the man that should have been too wounded to sit let alone stand up, get to his feet acting like he had never been shot in the first place. Faye also noticed something else. The front of the man's coat had blood all over it. That meant he wasn't wearing any armor!! But that was impossible! If he wasn't wearing any armor he should be dead. What scared her the most was the man's face was still blank. It didn't register pain, fear, or even anger over shot. She had no time to think about that as the man swung his pistol back towards her, it's barrel seemed to become as large a train tunnel. Before the man had a chance to fire he jerked back again as the bartender's shotgun roared.

"MURDERING BASTARD!!" He shouted as he advanced, rapidly pumping and firing. The bartender forced the man into the middle of the street and was about to shoot him again when the pump on the shotgun slid back and locked. The bartender looked down at his now empty weapon and then back up at the man, who was steadying himself. Before he could fire Faye stepped forward and fired, knocking the man back further but he remained on his feet. She pumped and fired again but the man still wouldn't drop. As she chambered her last shell she had a decision to make, to kill the man or risk him surviving another blast to the chest.

[Screw that!! There'll always be other bounties.] She told herself. She set her feet and took careful aim. The shotgun again roared and the man's head snapped to one side but he remained standing. She had only grazed him. [How?!? I had him dead in my sights!!] The man turned his head back and she found out, to her horror, that she hadn't missed. The slugs had struck the side of the man's head and ripped the skin almost clean off, but the skull was still intact. What was exposed still had blood on it but Faye could see the gleam of a bluish metal. What happened next almost made her faint. The man nonchalantly reached up to the mangled flesh that was around his left eye, grabbed a handful of it and tore it off, not showing any emotion as he did. Beneath the ruined skin was an eye, not a human eye but a glowing red eye that had all the life of a camera lens. The inhuman way it focused on Faye made her more afraid then she had ever been her entire life.


	4. Enter the Terminator

Chapter 4: Enter the Terminator

For Faye time seemed to stand still. It had all sounded so easy at the start. A three million bounty, dangerous and wearing some new type of super armor. Just come prepared for it and everything would turn out fine. She had come prepared, or so she thought. The ammo she had chosen should have cracked his ribs no matter what kind of armor he had on. He should have been knocked unconscious, or at least have the fight taken out of him. Instead he had absorbed every shot both Faye and the bartender put into him, then he had gotten up as easily as if he had just tripped and fallen, not like he had taken over a dozen shotgun blasts, one that had struck him in the head. Now he was staring at them missing the upper left part of his face, with one eye living yet dead and the other a glowing red orb that seemed completely dead but had a life all its own. The man, thing actually, did not show any signs he had been injured. Instead he began to raise the hand cannon of a pistol he was carrying. A clattering sound brought Faye out of her trance as she turned and saw the bartender running, his shotgun discarded. The thing's head followed the bartender's movement and it smoothly took aim and put a fifty-caliber bullet in the back of the man's head. Acting almost without thinking Faye reached into her pockets and pulled out several of her spare shotgun shells. Never taking her eyes off the thing she loaded as many of the shells as she could. She had gotten only two in when the thing started turn back in her direction. Dropping the remaining shells she chambered a round and took aim. She acted bravely but in reality it was terror that was now guiding her actions. She couldn't run otherwise she would be shot in the back to. She wouldn't be able to kill it, she didn't even know if it could be killed, so she took aim at the thing's hand and fired, knocking the pistol out of his grip. She then put one final blast into the thing's chest, dropped the shotgun and started to run as fast as she could.

The thing that she would later find out was called a Terminator did not immediately peruse. He looked at his weapon lying on the ground. Visual scan indicated that the weapon had been damaged too severely to be useful. Removing a smaller nine-millimeter pistol he took aim at his escaping target but it turned around a corner out of his firing zone. His neural net brain ran through several scenarios at once and in less then a second a decision was made. Though the target was no longer a viable threat she had compromised his camouflage, and staying true to his orders he would need to kill the target to keep his true nature a secret. It was also decided that the same would need to be done with anyone else who he came in contact with. As he began foot pursuit he ran the image of the bounty hunter through his data banks. Soon he had a complete file on her.

Name: Valentine, Faye

Age: Unknown

Planet of origin: Unknown, possibly Earth

Profession: Bounty Hunter

Known accomplices: Jet Black

Terminator accessed the file he had on Jet Black. Another bounty hunter, former member of ISSP, owner of interplanetary vessel designated Bebop. He recognized the file photograph as possibly one of the men who had tried to apprehend him in the subway. After comparing the photo with the image in his memory he calculated a one hundred percent chance that it was the same man. He then cross-referenced the image of the other who had been with Jet Black and came up with the name Spike Spiegel, a man who was listed as dead for three years. He calculated a ninety eight percent chance that the three were in league with each other and that Faye Valentine would tell them what she had seen. There was a seventy -five percent chance they would believe her but only a ten percent chance that anyone else would. A human would accept those odds but Terminator was anything but human. His programming would allow nothing else then a zero percent possibility of his discovery. It came to the conclusion that in order to preserve his secrecy he would need to terminate Jet Black and Spike Spiegel as well as Faye Valentine. All this processing was done even before he had turned the corner in pursuit of his target.

As things were unfolding on the street on the roof of an adjacent building two figures watched the events through binoculars. One wore a Mars Police Department uniform, a captain. The other wore a black coat and a face that was emotionless as the Terminator's had been. After arranging to have everything set up Vicious had come to witness it for himself. If something went wrong and the agent wasn't killed he would finish the job, making sure that the luckless bounty hunter received all the blame. When the bounty hunter in question had arrived Vicious had recognized her. If all went well he would be killing two birds with one stone, destroying the newest threat to his power and sending a message to the oldest. A few minutes after she had entered the bar the agent strode in. Gunfire was heard from inside, first the loud sharp crack of a pistol then the roar of a shotgun. The agent had then come flying through the door and lay motionless. As the bar patrons gathered around the fallen man Vicious saw blood on the agent's coat. Thinking the task completed he was about to leave when the agent got to his feet and started killing everyone around him. Then Faye and someone else began firing on the agent again. The man reacted to the shots hitting him but did not allow them to impede him. At first Vicious thought it was part of his genetic programming, ignore pain and continue. That changed when a shotgun blast tore part of his skull off and flung it several feet away from him. No one could survive that, let alone ignore it. But yet the man remained standing and faced down his attackers. Focusing in on the area of the head that had been shot away Vicious saw a glint of metal. The man then tore off more of his face and revealed a red mechanical eye. He then killed the man and was about to do the same to Faye when she shot the gun out of his hands then turned and fled. As the man, robot would be a better term, brought out another gun and began to pursue her Vicious and the captain lowered their field glasses.

"What do we do now sir?" The captain asked, trying to stay calm in spite of what he had just witnessed. Vicious did not answer. He approached this revelation as he would any other problem, with cold logic. He would have to find out what the agent truly was and more importantly how to stop him.

"Gather as many of your men as you can." He told the captain. "Follow whatever that thing is and destroy it by any means necessary." He turned and began to leave. The captain followed several steps behind and began to speak into his radio, not daring to question Vicious' orders.

"Suspect now headed north on 22nd, send all available ground units and contact any available S.W.A.T teams in the area. Approach with caution, suspect is considered armed and extremely dangerous." Vicious did not expect them to be successful, but he needed to buy as much time as possible to find out everything he could. For the first in a long time he was angry, not frustrated but truly angry. Angry at the corpses who led the clan for their deceit and at himself for not seeing through it. His spies were supposed to keep him informed of even the elder's most confidential projects. Heads would roll for this, in the most literal sense. But that was for later, now he needed to find out just who this mechanical being was. The most likely place to find answers would be the laboratories that produced the so-called clones and armored vests.

While Vicious began his search for answers Terminator had located his primary target. She had a considerable lead and was out of pistol range. Terminator broke into a run and rapidly began to close the distance. When he was back within effective pistol range he raised his weapon and started firing on the run. After several shots missed the target he had factored in all contingencies and was about to fire a killing shot when something struck him in the side and knocked him into the air.

Faye kept on running, not looking back even when bullets started whizzing past her head. Her only thought was to get away from that thing as fast as she could. A loud screeching assaulted her ears followed by an even louder crash. Finally risking a glance back she saw a police car careen out of control and run into a building. She also saw her pursuer land hard and tumble end over end after being struck by the vehicle. Not questioning her luck she kept running and didn't look back, where she had left the Red Tail was only a few blocks away and if she could make it there she would be home free.

Two cops dragged themselves out of the wrecked squad car. They were answering an emergency call when some idiot ran right out in front of them. They had hit him dead on and lost control, slamming into a building.

"You okay?" The driver asked his partner.

"Yeah. What the hell was that guy thinking?" He asked pointing to the motionless form.

"Well it's too late to ask him now." The two approached the body cautiously. "Probably high on something. That kind of shit makes you think you're invincible."

"All I know is that our ride is trashed and some psycho is running around loose." He looked at the body and back at his partner. "You don't think…..?"

"Could be." They were about to examine it when the 'dead' man stood up and faced them. Part of his face wasn't there, instead there was metal and a glowing red eye that seemed to look through them. They went for their guns but Terminator was faster, one hand lashed out like a snake and clamped down on the throat of the closest cop. He didn't even have time to struggle for breath when Terminator flicked his wrist and snapped the cop's neck like a matchstick.

"Unit three to base!!!" The other cop screamed into his shoulder mike. "Suspect has been spotted, send all available backup to….!!!!" Terminator did not give him a chance. With his free hand he smoothly drew the dead cop's still holstered gun and shot the second cop in the forehead as he struggled to unholster his own weapon.

"Base to unit three." A voice from the second cop's radio said. "Backup is en-route. Do not, I repeat do not approach suspect until backup arrives. Do you copy unit three?" Terminator did not answer. He could imitate the voices of both the dead policemen but would not be able to stop the others that were coming towards him. Even now he picked up the sounds of sirens approaching. "Unit three?" The voice asked. Ignoring the radio Terminator examined the car and found it to be inoperable. His target was now lost and sirens were converging on him from all sides. Several options were available to him, to flee and try to sneak past, to radio for help, or to fight. He could not conceal himself among humans so he could not flee. To radio for help would betray his masters. The only option that was viable was to fight. He would need heavier weapons and began to search for areas where they could be acquired. Searching through his records he found a gun shop that was used by his masters as a front for smuggling illegal arms only half a block from his current position and headed towards it. When he got there he found it locked for the night and smashed the door down to gain entry. Scanning the weapons available he found several that would be useful and began preparing them. He selected an AK-74 assault rifle, loaded several clips with armor piercing ammunition and an automatic shotgun with slug shells. He also managed to find a replacement Desert Eagle but even all this would not be sufficient to handle the number of officers that he could hear approaching. Going into the back of the building he came to a door with the sign 'Private' hanging on it. Judging it to be the most likely place where he kept all the arms he smuggled for the masters. With one punch the hinges gave way and the door collapsed. In the room he found what he would need and picked up several tube shaped objects. Walking back to the front he set the tubes next to his other weapons within easy reach.

"This is the police!!" A voice from outside bellowed. "Come out with your hands above your head!!" Walking back out into the front of the shop he assessed the threats before him. Eight standard police cruisers formed a barrier manned by sixteen officers. Behind them an armored personnel carrier was offloading men wearing S.W.A.T gear and carrying assault rifles. In total thirty-five officers stood between him and escape. First Terminator would need an unobstructed field of fire. Taking one of the tubes he extended it and brought it to his shoulder, aiming at the front of the building. Pressing the firing button a rocket shot from the tube and blew out the front portion of the shop with an earth-shattering roar. The police instinctively took cover, dazed by the smoke and the noise from the explosion. Terminator was affected by neither and raised another rocket launcher. A second rocket whizzed by the stunned police officers and slammed into the APC, sending it up in a ball of flame. Several cops, struck by shrapnel, fell to the ground. All the others trained their weapons on the smoke cloud but were unable to see through it. Terminator had no such problems and fired his final rocket into the center of the barricade, destroying several of the cruisers and killing ten of the officers. After putting his new Desert Eagle into his holster he picked up both the rifles and walked forward.

"He's coming out!!" One of the cops yelled as a shadowy form walked through the smoke.

"Just hold your positions and don't fire until I give the word!!" The captain ordered. {How did I get my self into this?} He asked himself. Vicious had told him to get every man he could, that should have been enough to take down one guy, even if he was a robot. As he looked about he saw almost half his men dead and the other half scared almost out of their wits. The smoke was beginning to clear and out of it walked the suspect holding an assault rifle in one hand and a shotgun in the other, like they were both pistols.

"What the hell is that thing?!?" One of the cops yelled in undisguised fear. All now got a good look at Terminator's mechanical eye.

"Drop him!!" The captain commanded. As one the remaining cops opened up with everything they had. Shotguns, machine pistols, assault rifles, all were focused on the monstrosity walking towards them but Terminator walked through the barrage like a normal man would walk through a light rain. He acted slowly and deliberately, not spraying the area but firing carefully planed and precisely aimed bursts. As a result every time Terminator fired his shots hit and a cop went down, none of which got up again. The shrinking number of ISSP tired to fall back but Terminator continued to calmly kill police officers left and right. After running out of ammunition some cops tried to run but were shot in the back. One dove behind one of the wrecked cruises trying to find cover. Terminator's neural net brain was able to analyze the cop's trajectory and compute the most likely spot where the cop would land and fired a burst through the car. So accurate was the neural net calculations that the cop actually dived right into the incoming bullets. One S.W.A.T member, trying to be a hero, rushed forward emptying his M-16 into Terminator's chest. The machine calmly swung his shotgun around and fired three shots in quick secession to make sure he penetrated the man's body armor. The man was flung several meters and landed on his back, dead before he even hit the ground. The shotgun now out of ammunition Terminator dropped it and continued to fire his AK-74. When the clip ran out he stopped his advance and began to replace it with calm professionalism. As he did what was left of the small army of cops came out from behind their cover and fired until their weapons ran out. Terminator took no notice of the bullets hitting him and finished reloading his rifle. He then swept the gun in an arc in front of him, firing a burst and moving on to the next target so quickly he seemed to fire one long stream of bullets. The last officer went down and Terminator stopped to survey the situation among the burning vehicles and dead bodies. The enemy had suffered a one hundred percent casualty rate and damage to his own systems was negligible. He listened very carefully and could hear one of the officers moaning in pain behind a cruiser. Terminator walked around the vehicle and saw the police captain lying on his back, blood flowing from a chest wound. Without a word Terminator raised his rifle and started to pull the trigger.

"The Dragon's reach stretches beyond the heavens!!" The captain blurted. Terminator stopped pulling the trigger, recognizing the code an agent of his masters used. However his grip on the trigger did not loosen and he did not shift the rife.

"Out of the past will come a new force." Terminator said. The captain looked from the machine's face to the barrel of the rife that was pointed at his face. Hoping the thing was just trying to scare him he smiled nervously.

"Whatever you say pal." Terminator did not show any outward reactions.

"Wrong." He said coldly and put a bullet through the center of the captain's forehead. Before the captain hit the ground Terminator was already planning his next objective. Scanning the vehicles still intact he found one in operational condition and went over to it. Getting in he found the keys still in the ignition and started the car up. The radio came alive with frantic sounding voices trying to get in touch with the force that lay dead around him. He yanked the radio from the dash panel and tossed it out the window. Using information from his files he also found the homing transmitter all cruisers were equipped with and destroyed that as well. Now sure that he could not be followed he put the car in gear and drove off into the night.

Part of Terminator's battle programming was to make sure all enemy combatants were dead. With the threat of more police arriving and the addition of air units that he could hear coming he could not carry out that part of his programming without endangering himself to further risk of discovery. If he had the time to check the bodies that now littered the street he would find one of them still breathing. He was lucky. He had been standing near the APC when the second rocket blew it to scrap. A piece of metal flew from the explosion and struck the man in his head. The metal penetrated his helmet and skin but was stopped just short of bone. He was knocked unconscious and when he began to come to he could hear gunfire and screams. Slowly he opened his eyes and saw some_thing_ slaughtering his fellow officers. No matter what was thrown at it he kept on coming, not stopping until all the others were dead. He saw it corner the captain and the captain said something that made the thing stop. They had been sold out!! The captain knew what they were going against and sent them in anyway!! The thing said something to the captain but when he answered the thing shot him at point blank range. The captain got what he deserved but that thing was still alive. Whatever it was turned and looked in his direction and felt his heart skip several beats. He remained absolutely still, not moving, not even breathing until it got into a cruiser and drove off. Even after that he dared not try to move until the paramedics got to the scene.

"We've got a live one here!" One of them shouted. A minute later several people were standing over him, including another police officer. He tried to get up but it was too painful.

"Easy son." The officer said. "You're going to be fine but we'll need your help later…."

"Red eye." The wounded officer mumbled.

"What?" The second officer asked.

"He had a… red eye." The wounded officer said before passing out again. He was quickly loaded into an ambulance and taken to the nearest hospital. The officer in charge watched it go as his second in command approached.

"He going to make it lieutenant?"

"Yeah." The lieutenant answered. "What about the others?" The second officer looked back and hesitated.

"You can tell the medics they can go home. The only thing we need here is body bags, lots of them."

"GOD DAMN IT!" The second officer nodded in agreement.

"Did the kid say who did this?" The lieutenant shook his head.

"Just that whoever it was had a red eye."

"Wait a minute. You're telling me that one person did all this?" He gestured to the carnage around them. "That's impossible!"

"After the Dragonslayer killings I wouldn't rule it out."

"So you think we're dealing with the same guy?" The lieutenant shook his head again.

"No. All of them were shot to death, no signs of edged weapons." He growled as he looked over the bodies. "Have someone waiting to question that kid when he wakes up. Find the missing squad car, our perp must have stolen it. Have everybody in a three block radius questioned, and find out who was at that bar he was spotted at earlier. I want this guy found at all costs."

"And after we find him?" The lieutenant's voice took on a sinister edge.

"We bury the fucker."

Terminator followed the map to a known safehouse where his secret was known and he could get help. Pulling on a raincoat he found in the car he had abandoned several blocks back walked up to the door and knocked three times.

"We don't want any!!" An angry voice yelled from inside.

"The Dragon's reach stretches beyond the heavens." Terminator said. The voice was silent for a moment.

"Are you of the special division?" The voice asked.

"Affirmative." Terminator answered. "Agent 001."

"Out of the past will come a new force….." The voice started.

"That will enable us to dominate the future." Terminator finished. The door was opened by a man in a labcoat.

"Were you followed?"

"Negative." Terminator answered. The scientist nodded.

"Get in here and close the door. We'll see to your repairs." Terminator nodded and complied.

At the Red Dragon's genetics laboratories Vicious had one of the scientists cornered, in front of several large glass tubes, each containing men who looked exactly alike.

"Now you're going to tell me everything you know." Vicious said menacingly. The scientist was ghost white and shaking profusely.

"I, I already informed you of our work here sir."

"No you haven't." Vicious said with certainty. He motioned to one of his men, who shot one of the tubes. It shattered and the man inside fell out, but when he hit the floor he landed stiffly with a loud clunk. The thug checked it for a pulse.

"It's plastic." The thug reported. The scientist gulped nervously.

"Open it." Vicious ordered. The thug took out a knife and flipped open the blade. Cutting a line down the back he peeled back the plastic skin and inside found several metal rods that gave it a basic human shape. The scientist turned another shade paler.

"I c…c...can't tell you. They'll kill me."

"No. I am going to kill you." Vicious told him. "You need to make a decision. Tell me what you know and die a quick and painless death, or spend your last few hours in agony." The scientist slumped against the wall.

"I'll tell you everything I know." He said, his voice drained of any will he had left.


	5. New Allies

Chapter 5: New Allies

When she made it to the Red Tail Faye had took off and put as much distance between her and the thing that was chasing her as possible as fast as she could. When she was airborne she checked to make sure no one was following her. When nothing showed up on radar she finally began to calm down as most of the panic left her. As she flew back to the Bebop she tried to make sense of what had just happened. She also had to decide whether to tell Spike and Jet about what had happened.

"Right." She said to herself. "Just walk in and say 'Hey guys bad news. You know that bounty we've been after? Well it turns out that he's some sort of indestructible robot that looks like a person.'" She shook her head. "That'll go over real well." As the Bebop came into visual range she finally began to feel safe. As a result she began to feel completely drained as she came down from the prolonged adrenaline rush. When she landed and got out the reality of what had happened began to sink in. Walking into the lounge she found Jet and Ed working at their respective computers and Spike nowhere to be found.

"So did doing your homework help you any?" Jet asked sarcastically when he heard the door open. He looked up and the sarcasm disappeared from his voice. "Holy shit Faye what happened?!" Faye was glad she didn't have a mirror at the moment. If she had she would have seen a very pale face and panicked, haunted eyes that looked nothing at all like her usual self. When instead of walking with her usual stride she stumbled in, almost tripping over her own feet, Jet _knew_ this was serious. Faye had been in some close calls before but she had never acted like this before, not even after the worst of them. Without a word she sat down on the couch and began to shiver as the entire weight of what she had seen and experienced came crashing down on her. Jet went over to her as Ed watched curiously.

"Jet, what's wrong with Faye Faye?" Ed asked, concerned.

"She's going into shock." Jet told her. "Ed, get a blanket then go find Spike. I have a feeling we're both going to want to hear this." Ed nodded and rushed off. "Faye, can you hear me?" Faye nodded slightly. Jet decided to skip the usual questions about who she was and where and get right to the point. "Have you been shot? Do you need to go to a hospital?" He didn't see any wounds but he had to make sure. Faye shook her head. "You're sure?" Faye nodded an affirmative. "All right. Just concentrate on staying awake."

While Jet was trying to keep Faye from passing out Ed almost ran over Spike as he emerged from the bathroom. There were no magazines left so he had to settle for listening to a police scanner. There was an interesting bulletin calling for as many cops as possible and a S.W.A.T team. Deciding it would be interesting to see how this played out Spike left the scanner on and was about to go back to the lounge to show Jet when Ed nearly bowled him over.

"This isn't a freeway Ed!" Spike yelled after her as she disappeared into Faye's room. "What's the big rush anyway?"

"Faye Faye is back." Ed called from inside the room.

"That's something to get excited about?" Ed emerged from Faye's room carrying a large blanket.

"She's sick." Ed said as she sprinted past him.

"Sick?" Spike asked himself. Now curious he followed Ed to the lounge and saw her draping the blanket over Faye's shoulders. "What's her problem?"

"Don't know, she came in like this. Faye, can you tell us what happened?" Before Faye could answer the scanner Spike was carrying squawked to life.

"Attention all units. Silent alarm activated at Moving Target gunshop. Suspect wanted in Red Eyes shooting believed to be involved. Approach with extreme caution."

"Unit five reporting, we have a conformation. It's the same guy who shot up that bar. All units form a perimeter, nothing gets in or out. Once he comes out we take him down."

"Roger that captain."

"They can't do it." Faye said. All of them glanced over, it was the first words she had spoken since getting back. "They're all going to die."

"Faye they've got over thirty cops there. One guy can't take on all of them, no matter how good he is." Spike spoke up.

"You don't know what he is." Faye said turning away. Jet and Spike exchanged worried looks, wondering if whatever had happened traumatized her so badly she was loosing it.

"This is the police!!" A voice said over the scanner. "Come out with your hands above your head!!" The next sounds they heard were a large explosion and officers cursing as they dove for cover. Before any of the cops could respond another explosion came over the scanner, much louder this time, accompanied by the screams of wounded and dying officers. A third explosion came blasting out of the scanner so loud it made them wince, this time with even more and louder screams.

"He's coming out!!" Someone yelled.

"Just hold your positions and don't fire until I give the word!!" Someone else, the captain, shouted back. The scanner went silent for a second as the cops waited for the suspect's next move. What they heard next nobody but Faye expected to hear.

"What the hell is that thing!?!" One of the cops screamed in obvious terror.

"Drop him!!" Was the captain's answer. Jet had heard this scenario played out before. A crazed suspect determined to go out in a blaze of glory would charge the police line. There would be a quick but heavy burst of gunfire and it would all be over. What he was hearing now sounded nothing like it. Instead of stopping almost immediately the gunfire kept on going, and going. That didn't make sense. The only reason they would need to fire that many rounds is if they were fighting a small army. The frantic radio chatter told him otherwise.

"He's not going down!!" One panicked voice yelled.

"Keep firing, he can't last forever!!" Another yelled back.

"This is nuts!!" A third yelled. "I keep hitting him but he won't go down."

"Then aim for the head!!" The captain barked.

"I _**am**_ aiming at the head." The third voice yelled. As the firefight raged the sounds of gunfire became intermixed with the screams of officers and the report of two weapons that Jet knew weren't part of the ISSP arsenal. After each one of those weapons fired they heard the screams of the officer that had been shot. Slowly the weapons firing faded along with the screams. The next thing they heard was the captain yelling but his radio had been damaged so it was mostly static.

"…. agon's reach……. heavens." They heard a deep voice answer but it was so garbled they couldn't hear it. "What… say … pal." The deep voice said something and they heard a rifle shot. After that they heard a car start up then nothing.

"Unit five come in! Come in unit five!!"

"Alpha team respond!! If there's anyone left, please respond!!" Nothing but silence answered them. Spike turned off the scanner and all three looked over at Faye, who was staring at the floor.

As word of the massacre spread the perpetrator of the act stood calmly as he was scanned by a machine monitored by several scientists.

"No structural damage." One of the scientists read from a screen. "But your skin will begin to decay within the hour. You'll have to go back to the main lab and have it replaced. Tell them that they'll have to change your fingerprints as well as your base DNA to avoid placing you at the scene. Do you understand these instructions?"

"Yes." Terminator responded.

"Good. We will provide transportation." He gave Terminator the raincoat he had come in with and led him to the garage of the complex were an armored car was waiting, its driver leaning against it. "A shipment of gear is expected so you can just hitch a ride. But keep that coat on and the hood up until you're safely inside." Terminator complied and climbed into the passenger seat, pulling up the hood as he did. The driver climbed in, giving his passenger a wary look. Terminator gave no response and just continued to look straight ahead. The driver shrugged and started the engine.

While Terminator was headed to one lab Vicious and his thugs were entering another. The scientist at the genetics labs had given him some very useful information, but only on the genetic portion. After killing him ten minutes going through the lab's computer told him everything. Organic skin used to cover a metal endoskeleton, enabling it to blend in with the general population. He had all the files copied and now he had all the technical data on the on the skins and how to grow them, but he had no information on the robotic endoskeletons themselves. He had a feeling he would find that information at the metallurgy labs where the armored vests were supposedly made. When he entered he found a much different reception from the genetics labs. One of the scientists had recognized them when they walked in and didn't wait for Vicious to make any threats.

"So they finally decided that they want the vests? It's about time." Vicious kept his face neutral but he found the statement surprising.

"The vests are ready then?" Vicious asked.

"The prototype has been ready for almost two weeks, and we haven't heard anything from them except 'continue research'. I'm beginning to think they want us to fail. They give us only a fraction of the materials we need, even less funds and they expect us to come up with results? Makes you wonder if they know what they're doing." Vicious listened carefully. Either this man was a very good actor or he didn't know anything. He was about to ask directly when a short, skinny scientist walked up to the first scientist.

"I don't recall anyone telling you it was time for a coffee break." He said in a high and mighty tone, not noticing Vicious and his men. "We're under orders to proceed as quickly as possible and ….."

"We are here to observe how far you have progressed." Vicious spoke up.

"Is that righaaaaaaaaaaa!!" The head scientist yelled after realizing who was watching him. "S,S,S Sir Vicious. This is, a , most unexpected honor that you would … .."

"We are not here to receive false praise from a sniveling rat. We came to see the progress of your work."

"Of, of course sir. Right away!" He stammered and rushed off. Vicious noticed the first scientist grinning.

"Not very popular is he?" Vicious inquired. The scientist snorted.

"That's an understatement. That bootlicker acts so tough because he has the elders favor. He's always barking orders, making us work longer hours then taking all the credit for himself. Not many people will be sad to see him go I can tell you that much."

"That might be sooner then you think." Vicious said. The head scientist came back holding a metal vest.

"Here it is sir. With any luck we should have it perfected in another month."

"A month you say?" Vicious asked menacingly. "Your associate said that they have been ready for two weeks." The head scientist gulped nervously then shot the other scientist an angry glare.

"He's mistaken sir. Must have misheard something somewhere."

"Perhaps." Vicious replied, which made the scientist relax. "But that's not what we came here to see. We came here to inspect your other work."

"This is the only work we do here sir." The head scientist said nervously, motioning to the vest.

"I think you misheard me." Vicious said threateningly. "I'm talking about your other work." He put emphasis on the word other. The scientist turned pale and started sweating.

"I, I assure you sir that we have no other projects here. I have no idea what you're talking about." The more he spoke the less believable he sounded.

"You know exactly what I am talking about." The head scientist dropped the vest that landed with an echoing clang.

"I think I'd better get back to work." The first scientist said and clapped the second one on the back. "Happy trails." Despite being scared half to death the head scientist shot the first the angriest look he could manage.

"Now then. I think we should get down to the business at hand." One of Vicious's thugs grabbed the scientist by the arm and pushed him toward the offices. Once inside the scientist was shoved into a chair in front of a computer.

"What do you want?" The scientist asked.

"Open the files about the robotic endoskeletons. How they're made, what they're made of, everything."

"I,I am under orders not to do that without the elder's approval." The scientist said meekly. Vicious glanced over to one of his men who took out a pistol and began to screw a silencer on. The scientist began to type commands rapidly. "There it is. Everything about the project, down to its origins. I've done what you asked."

"Then leave." Vicious told him. The scientist hesitated for a moment then stood and went to exit the office. As his hand reached the doorknob the thug with the gun aimed for the back of his neck and fired. The scientist's body fell face-first into the door and slowly slid down it. "Get rid of that thing. Make it look like an accident." Two of the thugs picked up the scientist's body and took it away.

"The other one to?" The thug with the gun asked.

"Not yet. He might become useful later." The thug nodded and put his gun away. The final thug sat down at the computer and started going through the files, with Vicious watching over his shoulder. "Interesting." He said as the information scrolled past. With this he could expose the conspiracy behind these machines, but at the same time he would show his hand too soon. The ranks of those who would follow him were growing but right now they would be unable to pull off a successful coup. "Copy this information." He ordered the thug. "Then find someone who would be able to understand and use it. I don't care who, just as long as they're not part of any syndicate."

"Sir?" The thug inquired.

"If someone from ours or another syndicate inherited this information they would use it to enhance their own power. We run a lesser risk if we give it to an outside party. Search the entire web if you have to, just find someone. After you have let me know."

"Yes sir." The thug responded and began typing.

Back on the Bebop everyone was watching the TV, except for Ed who was searching for any fresh leads. To no one's surprise the only thing on was news about the shootout. Faye was still a little shaken up but she was no longer in danger of going into shock.

"At this hour there is still no progress on what has become the worst massacre in ISSP history." A reporter droned. "Thirty six officers dead, two murdered several blocks from the deadly gun battle the rest in the incident itself. There is only one known survivor of this horrendous act and the only reports we are receiving from ISSP is that he is in intensive care with a severe head injury, still in critical condition. There are no suspects named at this time as the ISSP conducts the largest manhunt ever known. All ships leaving Mars are subject to a thorough inspection and ISSP special forces units are combing the streets in an effort to apprehend …" Spike turned the set off.

"Translation: They're just running around like chickens with their heads cut off, not knowing what the hell they're doing."

"They need to say something. People would start to panic if they didn't do something."

Jet responded.

"Not like they can do anything anyway." Faye put in dryly.

"Look Faye, if you're right…." Jet began.

"IF I'm right?!?!" Faye yelled. "You guys may think I'm crazy but I know what I saw!!!"

"We're not saying we don't believe you." Jet said. "It's just that you might have misjudged what you saw. Maybe the guy was wearing a helmet with infrared goggles."

"I got a good look at his face Jet." Faye growled. "Half of it was gone and he had one red eye."

"What do you think about this Spike."

"After tangling with a seven foot tall alien it's kind of hard to be surprised by anything."

"Yeah, but a killer robot?" Jet said skeptically. "How do you do that and have nobody know about it?"

"With the syndicates almost anything is possible." Spike answered. Jet and Faye gave him an inquiring look.

"What do the syndicates have to do with anything?" Faye asked.

"The captain spoke a Red Dragon code phrase right before that guy blew him away. I was barely able to make it out but it's defiantly an identification code."

"So why did whoever it was shoot him anyway?" Jet asked.

"Don't know." Spike admitted. "But the only reason he would identify himself as a member of the syndicate is if he was sure the other guy was a member."

"Great, another puzzle to solve." Jet sighed. The three remained silent for a moment. "Well doing nothing is getting us nowhere so we'd better get moving."

"And just where are we supposed to do Jet?" Spike asked. "We don't even know where to start."

"Then we'll start with the simple stuff. We can't prove one way or another that what Faye saw was for real."

"Nice to know you can trust in your friends." Faye grumbled.

"So the best course of action." Jet went on. "Would be to talk with the only other person we know has seen our mystery gunman."

"That cop?" Spike asked. "Jet we don't even know if he's awake yet, let alone able to answer questions."

"Maybe, but it's the only chance we've got." Jet answered.

"Then we'd better get going." Faye said as she stood up.

"You're sure you're up to this?" Jet asked. Faye shrugged.

"Not really, but cowering from someone isn't exactly my style. I'm not going to let anyone control my actions, even if it is a robot."

"Good answer." Spike said. Fifteen minutes later they were on the steps of the hospital where the wounded cop was reported to have be taken.

"Just let me do all the talking." Jet told them as they went inside. The receptionist looked up from a pile of folders at the three of them. Jet took out his old ISSP badge and showed it to her. She gave it a casual glance. It wasn't fake, technically, so Jet wasn't worried about her scrutinizing it.

"Another interview with the shootout survivor?" She asked. The question caught Jet by surprise. He already had a story all set that would be sure to get them in. What he didn't count on was being expected.

"How'd you know we were coming? And how long has he been awake?" Jet asked, playing along as best he could. The receptionist must have been really bored since she missed Jet's hesitation, and the fact none of them really looked like cops.

"Since last night and I didn't." She answered. "But you guys have been going in and out all day so it's not a big surprise. Room four fifteen, in case you didn't know." Jet thanked her and they headed for the elevator.

"Awake since last night. Very interesting." Spike said as the elevator went up.

"That means either he has some sort of amnesia…" Jet started.

"Or someone is trying to cover something up." Faye finished. Spike nodded.

"Ok, let's do this by the numbers." Jet said as they approached the cop's room. "We don't give him any hints we know anything. I'll ask the questions, he'll probably respond better to a fellow officer." Jet opened the door and before he could even get a good look inside he was hit in the face by a bedpan that knocked him on his back. Faye and Spike watched Jet fall to the ground and turned to see the cop, standing and fully alert, with his fists raised, dressed in his ISSP uniform.

"Nice pitch." Spike commented. The cop's stance didn't change and his eyes remained focused.

"God damn it!! What was that for!?!" Jet yelled as he got up holding his bleeding nose.

"If you're going to shoot me do it!!" The cop yelled, ignoring both Jet and Spike. "Cause I'm not changing my story and you're sure as hell not putting me in some psycho ward!!"

"Just take it easy there friend." Spike said calmly. "We're not cops."

"Then who the hell are you!?" The cop asked, still not dropping his guard.

"Just some people trying to find answers." Spike replied. The cop slowly lowered his hands and gave them a suspicious look.

"Bounty hunters, huh?"

"Smart boy." Spike commented. "Look, we're following a lead and you're our best shot."

"You're looking for the guy from the shootout aren't you?" The cop asked.

"That's right." Jet answered. "The only thing is we don't know what he looks like. Now being an eyewitness we thought you would know." The cop looked at the group in front of him.

"I'll tell you but you won't believe me."

"Try us." Faye said. The cop sat down on one of the beds.

"I wasn't awake for the first part of the attack. One of the rockets hit me in the head, knocked me out and gave me this." He pointed to a deep cut in his head that had been stitched up. "When I woke up I saw something shooting everyone and shrugging off bullets like spitballs."

"What about his face? What did he look like?" Faye asked. The cop shuddered.

"That was the worst. You're going to think I'm crazy but I swear that his head was partly metal. And his left eye, it was like one of those monsters you see in the movies. Bright red, glowing like a light." Spike, Faye and Jet exchanged glances. The cop looked at each one of them, surprise on his face. "You believe me, don't you?" Jet nodded.

"Unfortunately yes." He pointed to Faye. "She had a run in with him just before you did."

"And these two thought I had lost my mind." Faye cut in angrily.

"Welcome to the club." The cop replied.

"That does not sound good." Spike said. "Just who did you tell this to before you told us?"

"The investigating officers. About three in all." He told them "I didn't tell any reporters." He added hastily. "As a matter of fact I didn't even see any. Then this morning they bring me my uniform and tell me somebody would be by to pick me up later. It doesn't take a genius to see that they mean a one way trip to the rubber room." The three exchanged worried glances. Jet took up a position at the door and scanned the hallway. "What's wrong?"

"We think that whoever killed those cops is connected with the Red Dragons. If he is then they'll send someone after you."

"I knew it!!" The cop shouted. "I just knew it!! The captain seemed to know that maniac!! He knew we didn't have a chance and we were sent in anyway!!!"

"Quiet!!" Jet hissed. "Look, we're in the same boat uh…."

"Connor." The cop answered. "Lieutenant John Connor, ISSP special forces."

"Ok John, the most important thing need to do now is get out of here before some very unpleasant characters find us. Let's just leave quietly and hopefully nobody will notice."

While the Bebop crew had been talking to lieutenant Connor half a dozen men in white coats approached the reception desk.

"We're here to transfer a patient to Pescadero mental hospital." He handed her a piece of paper. "John Connor. It's been determined that he has suffered a mental breakdown, battle fatigue I believe." The receptionist looked at the orders, then back up at the group.

"And you need six to handle one man?"

"He's a very dangerous individual. Better not to take chances right?" The receptionist shrugged and handed the paper back.

"Room four fifteen." She told them.

"Thank you." He turned and led the group towards the elevators. "You three take the stairs. We'll grab him and get out as fast as we can."

On the fourth floor the Bebop crew, along with their new friend, snuck out of the hospital room and into the hallway.

"So who to I have the honor of thanking for my escape?" John asked.

"I think we'd better save the introductions for later." Spike said, glancing over to the elevators. Three men in white coats walked out.

"Oh shit." Jet said. "Stairs. Now!"

"I don't think that's an option Jet." Faye said, pointing to the stairwell as three men walked out of it. This wasn't good. A hospital was not the best place for a shootout.

"I'd advise you three to step away from that man." The leader said. "He's very dangerous, a psychotic, suffering from delusions. Just let us help and everything will be fine." He said as the six closed in, not looking in the least like they wanted to help.

"Nuts to that!" John said and decked the man closest to him. The remaining five attacked. Jet managed to avoided lunges from the two who came after him, grabbed their heads and slammed them together. Spike landed a kick to the chin of one that sent him crashing into the wall. Another threw a punch at Faye, who grabbed his wrist, pivoted and threw him head first into the floor. The last one squared off against John. He threw several punches at John's head but John was able to dodge, waited until he had an opening and punched the man in the stomach. As he doubled over John hit him with an uppercut that laid the man out flat on his back.

"Nice moves kid." Jet commented. "Now let's get out of here before anyone else shows up." They went into the stairwell and quickly went down. Behind them the downed thugs staggered to their feet and drew guns from inside their coats. Jet and the others sprinted through the reception area.

"Your staff needs better people skills." John said as they ran past the surprised receptionist and out the door. "So does anyone have an escape plan?" He asked as the four of them ran down the hospital stairs.

"There." Jet said pointing to the white van that the thugs had come in. Jet jumped into the driver's seat and Faye got in the passenger side. With no time to argue about seating arrangements Spike and John opened the back doors and climbed in. "Hold on!" Jet called back. The engine roared to life and with a loud squeal of tires the van took off.

A second later the men in white coats ran through the reception area. When they got outside they saw the van they had come in peeling out and rushing down the street, John and Spike in the back, closing the doors and almost falling out when Jet took a hard corner. They raised their guns and began to fire but the van was already out of range.

"So what do we do now?" John asked as he sat down.

"We go back to our ship." Spike answered as he took out a cigarette. He offered John one but he declined. "We exchange all the information we have. Then we try to come up with a plan. Any other questions?"

"Yeah. How did I get drafted into this?" Spike shrugged.

"Sometimes fate just gives you a bad hand."

While the Bebop crew made good their escape Vicious stood patiently as the thug searched on the computer.

"Sir. I believe we have found someone. But …"

"But what?" Vicious asked.

"This individual, he's a hacker, a wanted one. We don't know if he can be trusted."

"Does he have any ties with any syndicate?"

"No sir."

"Then send him the information." He ordered. "Also send him a message telling him to find the ship Bebop and give the information to them."

"If I may ask sir. Why not send it to the Bebop directly?"

"I don't want this traced back to me. A hacker would be the logical suspect for the theft of this information. Just tell this," He looked closely at the screen. "this Radical Edward that there shall be a large reward if he completes this task to my satisfaction."

"Yes sir."


	6. Origins

Chapter 6: Origins

At a hidden genetics lab Terminator stood perfectly still as his new skin was being attached. As ordered this new skin looked identical to the original but now had a different DNA base and fingerprints.

"Optics test." One of the scientists said. Terminator opened his 'eyes' and looked around. All images were coming in as they should be. He quickly ran a systems check. All registered in the green zone.

"All systems at one hundred percent." Terminator announced.

"Excellent." The scientists said. "The masters will be pleased to see how efficient you are." He gave Terminator a fresh set of clothes and returned his weapon. "Now that you are repaired we will provide transportation back to them so you may give the report in person."

"No." Terminator said.

"No?"

"My mission is not complete." Terminator stated. "I am not to return or contact the masters until my mission is complete. You are not to contact them either." His orders to remain unseen were now his driving force. To complete his mission he must terminate Jet Black, Faye Valentine and Spike Spiegel. First he would need to locate them. The most logical place they would be on the ship registered to Jet Black, the Bebop. Without asking he sat down at a computer terminal and began typing. After a few moments he had access to the ISSP registration files and brought up the file on the Bebop. According to the file the Bebop was on Mars at the moment, docked in the artificial bay on the other side of the city. "I need transportation."

"We, can't do that." The scientist said nervously. "If we provide you with any transportation other then back to headquarters and something happens you could be traced back to us. Orders are orders." The scientist waited for the bad reaction he knew was coming but Terminator did nothing. His programming did not allow him to override his master's commands, even if doing so would allow him to carry out another set of orders. And unlike most humans to him the orders made perfect tactical sense.

"Very well." Terminator said. He picked up the final pieces of his disguise, a fake but very real looking ISSP badge and a pair of wraparound sunglasses. Both were designed to combine his air of intimidation he had with authority. He then left without another word.

While Terminator started his trek towards the Bebop John Connor got his first look at the unique vessel.

"That's your ship?" John asked as they approached the Bebop. He was wedged in behind Faye in the Red Tail and had to look over her shoulder. After ditching the van they had run into the problem of transportation. Renting a craft for John to fly out to the Bebop was out of the question and splitting up and having him take a boat was equally as dangerous. Since the Red Tail was the only one of the three capable of carrying two people Faye was elected to play taxi.

"That's it." Faye confirmed. "So what do you think?"

"What do I think?" John answered. "I think it's a rust bucket. The only thing holding it together are the bird droppings." Faye snickered and over the radio they heard Spike doing the same.

"Watch it!!" Jet's voice growled. "It's either you stay on that 'rust bucket' for a while or you go to a prison were everybody is insane."

"From what you guys have shown me so far I don't think there's much of a difference." John replied. That earned him a growl from Spike and Jet, and Faye glared at him over her shoulder. "Hey I call em as I see em." They landed and as they led John down the hallway to the lounge Ein ran up to them. When he spotted John he gave a warning growl, the only people he had seen brought on board except for Faye and Ed had been very unfriendly. John stopped walking. The dog might look like a fox minus the tail but right now it was acting like a pit-bull, and if he fit in with the rest of this strange crew he probably bit like one.

"Easy Ein." Jet told him. "He's a friend." Ein looked from Jet back to John, walked over and gave him a sniff then relaxed, favoring John with a canine version of a grin.

"Uh, Hi." John said, unsure about the sudden attitude reversal in the little dog. To his surprise Ein gave a bark of greeting, like he understood him. [Come to think of it he seemed to understand the others to.] Now things were getting really weird. He started following the others and Ein fell in behind him. "Are there any other surprises I should know about?"

"Just one." Jet replied. Before he could elaborate something dropped down out of the ventilation duct right in front of John.

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" The thing squealed in a very high-pitched voice. John stumbled back, tripped over Ein, and landed on his back.

"Just what the heck was thaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" When he sat up he found himself literally face to face with someone who had a pair of very large amber colored eyes. The owner of the eyes was a small skinny kid with wild orange hair and a curious look on his face. The kid broke into a large grin and began to giggle.

"Did Edward surprise you?" The kid asked him. John didn't answer right away, wondering if the kid was joking. But the kid didn't say anything else and still had an inquisitive look on his face.

"I think it's safe to say you took a few years off my life." John finally answered. The kid gave another high-pitched giggle.

"Edward is very good at surprising people." The kid stated with pride. He, [Or was it she? It was hard to tell.] leaned in and started to examine him more closely. Being scrutinized by a kid that seemed to have more then a few screws loose started to creep John out but the kid failed to notice.

"Ed, this is John Connor. He's helping us with something and is going to be our guest for a while." Jet explained. Ed gave John a large smile.

"Edward is pleased to meet you friend of Jet person." She said cheerfully. Unsure of what to do John gave a slight smile in return.

"Nice to meet you to." He said nervously. Ed laughed.

"Enjoy your flight and thank you for flying Bebop airlines." Ed said and ran off, arms outstretched and making airplane noises. John watched her run off and looked back to the others, not getting up.

"Who or what was that?" John asked.

"That's Ed." Jet answered. "Our resident computer wiz. She may be a little weird but she's the best hacker you can find."

"A _**little**_ weird?" John asked. Jet shrugged.

"Ok more then a little, but you'll get used to it." John shook his head. This was without a doubt the oddest group of people he had ever encountered, and that included the criminals. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud whine at his feet. Looking down he saw Ein pinned under his legs. He lifted the weight off the little dog and after Ein moved he started to get up.

"Sorry about that." He said as he stood. Ein let out an angry bark. "Hey, it was an accident." Ein gave another angry bark. "I said I was sorry didn't I?" John realized what he was doing and put his hand over his face. "It must be contagious. I've been here less then ten minutes and I'm talking to a dog like he was a person." Ein responded with a growl. John shook his head and followed the others into the lounge.

"Looks like you're going fit in just fine." Spike said as they sat down. Spike, Faye and John sat down on the couch, Jet on the chair across from them.

"That's what I'm afraid of." John replied. Not wanting to think about it further he changed the subject. "Look, you guys know who I am and if we're going to work together I should at least know your names."

"I guess introductions are overdue." Jet admitted. "On your left is Spike Spiegel and on your right is Faye Valentine. I'm Jet Black and this ship is called the Bebop, and I don't appreciate wisecracks being made about my ship."

"Wait a minute." John interrupted. "Jet Black. The Black Dog?"

"I used to be called that." Jet replied. To his surprise John started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Sorry. It's just that I can't wait to see the looks on the guy's faces when they learn that I've worked with a legend." Faye snickered and Spike smiled.

"The first one who makes a joke about my age gets tossed overboard with an engine block tied around their neck." Jet warned. The others quickly quieted down, not really wanting to find out if he was serious. "Now John the reason you're here is because you're one of two people who've seen whatever it was that killed those ISSP officers and came back alive. Faye is the other one. We're hoping that you have some information on whatever this thing is." John shrugged.

"I'm sorry but the only thing I know is what I've told you already." Jet let out a loud sigh. "Look I'll help any way I can but you three probably know more then I do."

"The only thing we do know is that the captain at the shootout was part of the Red Dragons, so was our metal friend." Spike said.

"Well that's no big surprise." John snorted. "Some of the highest ranking brass are owned by syndicates. What I don't get is why was the captain was killed if they're both part of the same syndicate."

"Must be the captain found out something he wasn't supposed to know." Jet said.

"A killer robot is definitely something you'd want to keep under wraps." Faye agreed.

"That means only a select few would be in on this." Spike said.

"Terrific." John put in. "We have to deal with an indestructible robot that we know nothing about." Ed suddenly appeared over their shoulders.

"Edward knows!" She yelled. Faye and Spike didn't react but John jumped out of his seat.

"Don't DO that!" John yelled. Ed's only was response was to laugh, she had managed to surprise the new person again.

"Ed we're in the middle of something, we don't have time for your games." Spike warned. "If it's not something that'll help us don't bother saying anything."

"It'll help." She assured them then scampered off. John gave inquiring looks to Faye and Spike, who both shrugged. Ed came back carrying Tomato and put it on the table for all to see. "Ed got this while everyone was gone."

"To Radical Edward." Jet read from the screen. "We have contacted you because you appear to be the one best suited for the task we are assigning to you. You are to search out the ship known as the Bebop and give them the technical data included with this message. They will need your talents to put the information to use. If you are successful there will be a substantial reward that will be wired to you upon the completion of your task. We will know if you have or not." Jet looked up from the screen. "It's signed 'A Friend'. Pretty suspicious if you ask me."

"So what's in there Ed?" Spike asked. Ed opened the first file and the screen was filled with the picture of a metallic skull. One that had two glowing red eyes. Spike raised an eyebrow but Faye and John actually jumped when the image appeared onscreen. Jet noticed their reaction.

"That's him isn't it?" Jet asked. John went up to the screen and covered the right half of the face with his hand. He looked over at Faye.

"Is this what you saw?" He asked. Faye's shudder was enough of an answer. "That's him." He confirmed. "Now I'm starting to get really suspicious. Someone just happens to send Ed this information right when we needed it?"

"Whoever it was probably didn't know that Ed is on the Bebop. Otherwise they would have addressed it to us." Spike said.

"We need to get out of here." John said suddenly. "Right now."

"What for?" Faye asked. "I was able to lose that bucket of bolts. He doesn't know we're here."

"Don't be so quick to say that Faye." Jet said. "Remember what happened the last time I thought I lost someone following me?" She thought for a second then her eyes went wide. "Exactly."

"Wait a minute." She said after a moment. "He was nowhere near the Red Tail and he didn't see which way I went."

"True, but he did see you." John put in. "If he knows who you are he can trace you back here."

"Nice try but there's nothing that says I'm on the Bebop." Faye said smugly.

"Nothing directly, but indirectly… . ." Jet started.

"There may be something to lead him right to us." John finished, catching the older cop's drift. "Ed, mind if I use your computer for a minute?" Normally anyone who tried something like that usually caused Ed to hunch protectively over Tomato and give a feral sounding growl. This time she just smiled and stepped aside. This action was not lost to the others as John began typing.

"What's the deal Ed? Any of us try that and you're ready to bite our hands off. Why let him?" Jet asked.

"You said he's a guest." Ed answered. "And guests are treated nicely. He also asked Ed nicely if he could use Tomato."

"Great." John mumbled. "First I get thrown in with a bunch of screwballs and now it looks like I've made friends with the nuttiest of the entire group." He continued typing. "Got it." He brought up the ISSP file on Faye, complete with the unflattering mugshot. "Let's see here. Age, height, blood type, rap sheet and a fairly long one at that." Faye snorted at that and John smiled. His smile disappeared when he read the next line. "Uh oh."

"Uh oh?" Jet asked. "I hope I didn't hear that right. Uh oh is never good."

"You got that right." John answered. "And it's a lot worse here. Under known accomplices it has your name listed." All of them were silent for a moment. All of them were thinking the same thing. Any idiot could put two and two together and that meant…..

"I think it's a good idea if we get out of here." Faye said quickly.

"Seconded." John added.

"Ok this isn't the time to panic." Jet said. "Grab whatever is absolutely necessary and go down to the hangar. I'll take Ein and Ed, you're riding with Faye."

"Three in the cockpit?" John asked. "That's going to be awfully crowded."

"Oh she doesn't ride in the cockpit." Faye told him. John gave her a quizzical look but didn't say anything as they got up and prepared to leave. Spike gathered all the spare weapons and ammunition while Jet grabbed all the money they had left, which wasn't much, and all their communicators. Ed picked up Tomato and put it inside the Red Tail. Then Faye and John set about the task of strapping Ed to the top of the Red Tail. Again to John's surprise instead of protesting or being scared Ed seemed thrilled to be strapped to the top a jet powered vehicle flying at speeds most people except daredevils would be petrified of. As they took off it was John that voiced the obvious question.

"So where are we going?"

"Ask Jet that." Spike's voice replied over the radio. They waited for a reply. "Well." Spike prodded.

"Actually I don't know." Jet admitted. "I'm making this up as I go along."

"That's just great." Faye groaned. "Nothing like jumping ship with no plan."

"Hey it was either go with no plan or sit around and wait for that thing to show up on our doorstep. Now are you going to tell me that you would have wanted to meet him when he got there?" Nobody had an answer for that one.

They would never find out how close they had come to what Jet had just told them. Ten minutes after they had left Terminator walked onto the waterfront. Had he arrived five minutes sooner he might have seen the ships flying off. As it was he didn't see any flying vessels and he scanned the ones in the water. When he found one matching the descriptions of the Bebop he approached a small transport boat manned by one man who was reading a newspaper, so engrossed that he didn't notice Terminator approach until he was right on top of him.

"What do you want pal?" The man asked, barely glancing up from his paper.

"I need to get to that vessel over there." Terminator stated, pointing to the Bebop.

"Buddy, I've got better things then to play taxi for every yahoo who wants a ride." The human was refusing to comply. Several options appeared for Terminator. The easiest would be to shoot the man and steal the boat but that would attract unwanted attention. Instead he took out his phony badge and tossed it into the man's lap.

"I insist." Terminator said. The man looked at the badge and the person who threw it. Any other day he would have tossed the badge into the water and told the cop to piss off. However this guy looked like the type you didn't want to make angry. With a sigh of annoyance he folded up the paper and set it down.

"Get in." Terminator climbed into the boat. The boat shifted oddly under Terminator's weight but the driver didn't notice. "Which one you want again?" Terminator again pointed to the Bebop.

"That one."

"You got it." He started the engines and headed out. "So, why you got to get out to that ship so fast?"

"Official police business." Terminator replied.

"Something real big, right?" Terminator turned towards him, its eyes hidden behind dark glasses.

"You ask too many questions." It wasn't really a threat but the emotionless way it was delivered made the driver realize that the best thing he could do was keep his mouth shut. They pulled up to the Bebop and Terminator jumped onto the side. "Wait here." He ordered without turning around.

"Sure thing." He watched as Terminator climbed up the side of the ship, wondering if he should leave and take his chances. He decided not to. There was something about that guy, he couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about him that said if you didn't do precisely as told you would regret it.

When Terminator pulled himself onto the deck he drew his gun and walked forward, on the lookout for any traps that might be set. He entered the hangar and found it empty. His files told him that all three of his targets had personal craft that were kept on the main ship. With the craft gone it was a logical assumption that they were also gone. Using the schematics in his memory banks he made his way to the bridge of the ship and accessed the main computer. There was nothing useful, the computer only told him where they had been, not where they were going. A person would feel anger and frustration but Terminator just adapted his search methods. Those craft would have to land eventually, their fuel would run out at some point. Everything they would need to leave the planet was in this ship. He took out his communicator and switched it on.

"Yes?" A voice on the other end answered.

"This is agent 001." Terminator replied.

"Go ahead."

"I need to have a ship watched. Its occupants are enemies of the masters. They have fled the vessel for now but may return. I will pursue them but the ship must be guarded. If anyone tries to board it you have authorization to shoot on sight." Terminator knew he would receive no back talk. His orders could only be superceded by the masters, and no one was about to risk going over his head.

"The name of the craft?" The voice answered.

"Bebop."

"Affirmative. We'll have a squad down there in five minutes." Terminator said nothing and snapped the communicator off. That taken care of he was now able to continue his pursuit. He left the ship and climbed back down into the boat where the driver was beginning to get nervous.

"So how'd it go?" The driver asked nervously.

"Drive." Was Terminator's only response. The man nodded and turned back to shore. The sooner he got rid of this weirdo the better. When they got back to the docks Terminator climbed out of the boat and walked off without a word. The driver didn't care, just so long as he left.

While the driver was counting his blessings the Bebop crew were trying to decide whether their current surroundings were a blessing or a curse.

"Hey Jet. Could you have gotten us a broom closet? There would probably be more space." Faye complained.

"It's not like we had a whole lot of choices Faye." Jet responded. After they had left the Bebop they found out just how little cash they had so they landed in the cheapest place possible to leave their ships, even if they would probably be stripped when they came back. After that they had been forced to go to a really cheap hotel that they could use for headquarters until they could get back to the Bebop. Jet had paid for two rooms, one for himself, Spike and John, and another for the girls. He also gave a generous tip to the manager in case someone came around asking for them, and for allowing them to keep Ein with them. Neither room was very big and right now they were all gathered in the larger of the two, waiting for Ed and Jet to finish looking through the information they had been given. They had been at it for an hour and all of them were a bit on edge except for Spike, who was leaning against the wall.

"How can he be so calm at a time like this?" John asked.

"There are things in life you have no control over. You just have to accept it and the rest comes easy." Spike answered. John glanced over at Faye.

"Is he always like this when someone's trying to kill him?" In response Faye rolled her eyes.

"Worse, he acts like this all the time." John shook his head again wondering how he had become caught up in all this.

"Ok you guys. We've got some background information if you're interested." The conversation was forgotten completely as the three huddled around Tomato.

"So what have you got?" John asked. Ed brought up a picture of a metallic skeleton.

"Say hello to our opponent. Cyberdyne systems Termination unit, series 800."

"Wait a minute." Faye interrupted "Cyberdyne? I've heard that name before, but I can't remember where."

"So have I." Spike said. "Aren't they some two bit computer company?" Jet nodded.

"They're small company specializing in computer software and programming. Recently they've been trying to branch out to other areas." Jet explained. John snapped his fingers as things fell into place.

"That's right. I read something a while back that they were trying to construct some type of energy gun and the project bankrupted them."

"That's right." Jet confirmed. "They were the leaders in the race to build a portable plasma cannon. Like you said, it drained all their resources and they had to file for bankruptcy. A few months ago the company was going down the toilet but then all of the sudden they have a miraculous revival. Their stocks climb and money starts to roll in, but no new financial backers are listed. That should raise a lot of suspicions but nobody bothers to ask any questions. Turns out the reason for the silence was this." He pointed to the picture displayed. "Apparently someone found out about Cyberdyne's past work and decided to capitalize on it."

"Past work?" Spike asked. "You mean this thing isn't new?"

"On the contrary." Jet answered. "This thing is older then any of us. It dates back to before the gate accident." Now he had everyone's complete attention. "Cyberdyne wasn't always a nickel and dime company. The gate accident practically wiped them out but back in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century they were one of the largest companies in the world. Their prime source of income was designing computer software for the military. Ordinary stuff at first, missile guidance systems and the like, but then they decided to get ambitious. And it all started with him." He brought up a picture of a middle aged black man. "This is Miles Dyson, considered to be one of the greatest minds in the modern era."

"If he's so famous how come I've never heard of him?" John interrupted.

"I've haven't heard of him either." Faye said.

"Ditto." Spike added.

"There's a good reason for that." Jet said. "He died in the gate catastrophe and someone else modified his studies and eventually created the MONO system, but that's getting ahead of everything. The reason he was considered a genius was because of this." A 3D projection of a strange microchip was displayed. "A new type of microprocessor, extremely advanced, even by today's standards. This one chip was able to out process even the most powerful supercomputers of the day and was able to create something thought near impossible to build, a neural net computer." He waited for reactions from the three but was met with only blank stares. John made a sweeping motion over his head, conveying the thoughts of all three of them. "You guys don't know what a neural net is?"

"Should we?" Faye asked. "It doesn't sound that big."

"Neural nets make machines think." Ed answered. "Let's them get smarter with more data." They looked from her back to Jet.

"That's about the size of it." He confirmed. "This processor was the basis for Cyberdyne's two biggest projects. One of which was our metallic friend. Humanoid robots had been under construction for years but they were never able to get it right since the human body has to maintain its balance and no computer could mimic that." He opened a video that showed the metallic skeleton standing upright in a laboratory test room. A multitude of cords snaked out of its back, some leading into the wall, others leading to a control counsel where a man in a lab coat sat.

"Movement test number twenty five." A voice over said. "Calibration to auto gyros is complete and all systems functioning at normal levels. Power up." A loud hum was heard and the eyes of the robot began to glow red, an eerily familiar sight for Faye and John. "Begin test." The robot lifted one leg, slowly and stiffly. It put its foot down, just as slowly and stiffly. It began to put weight on the foot when it fell forward and landed on the ground with a loud crash.

"Shit!" Somebody yelled. Several technicians rushed forward and began to examine the robot. "Cut the feed!" The screen went dark.

"The human body keeps its balance by making an untold number of adjustments every second." Jet explained. "No computer could match the speed the human brain was capable of. This video is six months after Dyson joined the project and his chip was in use." He opened a video showed the same setup as the first. Only this time when the robot walked forward it was with smooth, even strides. After walking for several yards it came to an egg set on the floor. Without breaking stride it bent down, picked the egg up, tossed it in the air and caught it. It then walked over to one of the techs and handed the egg to him. The tech held up the egg to the camera and showed that it didn't even have a crack. This time instead of an angry curse loud cheering broke out. John and Faye watched, fascinated. Spike watched with interest as well.

"Heavy stuff." Spike commented. Jet nodded in agreement.

"This was just the beginning. After this was shown to the military Cyberdyne received a huge increase in funds to refine the project. The brass had big plans for this thing. It gave them a perfect soldier, something that would obey orders without question, have no fear of death, and be immune to bribes or temptations. Most importantly it would feel no pity or remorse, so it could kill and keep on killing with no 'emotional baggage' as the generals put it. Cyberdyne immediately started to get it ready for military use. Its official designation was infiltration and termination units but they started to be known simply as Terminators. It would be programmed with everything it would need, battle tactics, every language known to man, even human anatomy files so it could kill more efficiently. Its neural net brain would learn and adapt in the field, it would be able to solve problems without receiving further instructions from its commanders. It would be made completely of titanium, allowing it to take massive levels of damage before being compromised." Jet shook his head in disgust. "These things would have created the bloodiest era in human history if it wasn't for their flaws."

"Now we're talking." Faye put in. "Something we can use against it."

"Unfortunately it's not that easy." Jet said with a sigh. "The two major flaws have already been fixed."

"How can you be so sure of that?" John asked. "It's not like we had a chance to do a system check on that thing."

"Because the fact that an operational Terminator exists is proof the flaws have been fixed. The first flaw was its appearance. These things were made for infiltration. You can't infiltrate anything as a metal skeleton. The first attempt to fix this was with a plastic skin, called the T-600 series. Here's the result." Another picture was brought up and this time Faye and John had to hold back a laugh. Even Spike gave a half smile when he saw the results. It looked like one of those cheap marionettes you found at theme parks. "Not a very good disguise is it?"

"Not really." John replied.

"That problem was to be solved by a revolutionary idea. Growing skin and hair then attaching it to the endoskeletons. Those units would be designated the T-800 series and that's the type that we're facing now. This kind of camouflage would have let them blend in perfectly, fortunately the technology to do that was a few years down the road."

"But now it's so easy that almost any geneticist could do it." Spike broke in.

"He'd have to have a lot of specialized equipment but yeah, you're right. The second problem is power. These things used so much energy they needed to be plugged into a separate power source to work. You're not going to like how they overcame that problem."

"We don't like this already Jet." Faye reminded him.

"Well you're really going to hate this." He brought up another picture. Faye and John stared at it dumbfounded but Spike's eyed narrowed in recognition. "Look familiar?"

"Unfortunately yes." Spike answered. He might have only have caught a glimpse of it on the roof that day but there was no doubt about it. That was the Predator's spear.

"Is somebody going to tell us what this is about or what?" Faye asked angrily. Jet glanced at Spike, who just shrugged.

"You had already crashed and didn't see it but this is what the Predator used to impale the Hammerhead and sent me crashing into the bay." Faye's eyes widened slightly at the news.

"Hold on a minute." John said. "Predator? Just what the hell is a Predator?" Spike decided to answer.

"You remember the Dragonslayer murders?" John nodded. How could anyone not remember those? "Well Dragonslayer turned out to be a Predator. Part of an alien race that hunts humans and takes their skins and heads for trophies." John looked around the group, back to Spike and started laughing.

"That's real funny Spike. Come on, an alien? Robots ok, but an alien? You can't be serious." He started laughing again but when none of the others joined him he looked around the group again. All of them had a dead serious look on their face. Even Ed looked a bit mellower then usual. John slowly stopped laughing. "You are serious."

"Very." Jet replied. "We had a run in with him a couple of months ago and almost got ourselves killed. He's dead and gone now but it looks like the Red Dragons found his spear." John sat down and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Guess that makes about as much sense as anything else that's happened today." A thought struck him. "Wait a minute. How can a spear help solve their power troubles?"

"The spear was powered, apparently to extend and retract the ends. They examined the power source and used that as a stepping stone in creating a brand new power cell to use in the Terminator endoskeletons. According to their estimates at maximum output with no attempt at conservation the power cell will last at least a hundred years. That's not even the worst of it."

"There's more?" John asked, not sure if he wanted to hear what came next.

"Yeah. According to their files along with the power source the Dragons managed to synthesize the metal, and it's a lot stronger then anything humans ever encountered or made." Everyone was silent for a moment.

"That's it!?!" Faye demanded. "You don't have any good news!?!"

"The only good news I've got is about the second project Cyberdyne was working on at the time of the gate accident."

"This should be interesting." Spike put in.

"Interesting isn't the word I would use Spike." Jet said. "The second project was the construction of a new supercomputer, one built entirely based on Dyson's work. It was proposed to connect all military hardware, including the entire nuclear arsenal of what was then the United States, under the command of one supercomputer, dubbed Skynet. With human error removed from the equation it was hoped that casualties in any future war could be numbered in the single digits."

"That's insane." John stated. "Computers aren't error proof. If anything went wrong it could have been as bad as the gate accident."

"Even if it did work perfectly." Spike added. "There's always mechanical failure. If something were to happen to Skynet everything would have become really expensive paperweights, leaving them defenseless."

"Those arguments helped to kill the project but something else had Cyberdyne worried."

"What could be worse then Skynet accidentally starting a nuclear war?" Faye asked incredulously.

"Starting it on purpose." This got him confused looks from everyone, even Spike. "One of the things Skynet was supposed to do was learn. For machines the early Terminators leaned at very fast rates, that was nothing compared to this. In a report written by Dyson himself he stated that the greatest threat was if Skynet was to become sentient." Now he had everyone's interest. "According to his calculations at the speed Skynet was capable of learning it had the possibility to become self aware in less then a month. If there's one they didn't want is a computer that could think for itself with command of enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world a dozen times over." Ed, who had remained quiet for most of the conversation, spoke up.

"MPU can think for himself and he's not bad. He's nice."

"That's true Ed." Jet admitted. "But MPU is different. He was orbiting Earth for fifty years. His rate of learning was much lower then Skynet's. Giving too much information to something, even a computer, too fast is bound to damage it in some way. When MPU became self aware he had an understanding of the information he had absorbed and as a result, I can't believe I'm saying this, he actually seems to enjoy human company."

"I thank you for the complement." A voice said from Tomato. John looked over at the computer goggle-eyed. "And you are correct. I have been analyzing the Skynet program and it does exceeded the safety levels for data input."

"See, I know what I'm talking about." Jet said to the others. To MPU he asked, "Can you tell us anything that'll help us deal with the Terminator?"

"I apologize but I can not." MPU answered, actually sounding sorry. "The CPU and power cell are buried under heavy armor and since it is a self contained unit I cannot hack into it."

"Well thanks anyway. If we need you're help anymore we'll ask."

"Very well." MPU said and shut himself down. Jet turned to John, who was still staring at Tomato.

"Let me explain ….." He started but John held up his hands.

"Don't." He told Jet. "Just don't. What you said about too much information, it's true. Too much and something gets damaged. I don't want that to happen so don't say anything else." He got up and headed to the door.

"Where're you going?" Faye asked.

"To see if this place has any aspirin." John replied. "My head feels like it's going to explode." As he left the room he decided that questioning the insane was pointless from here on out. Everything was a possibility now, especially with this group.


	7. Preparations

Chapter 7: Preparations

"So you think he left?" Faye asked, looking at the clock on the wall. It had been fifteen minutes since John had walked out of the room and he hadn't come back yet.

"Maybe he thought he could do it better alone." Spike said.

"Doubt it." Jet said. "We're the only friends he has right now, and he doesn't look like the kind of person to just run from a problem."

"Well he's not here now." Faye said in an annoyed tone.

"So why don't you go find him." Spike replied, just as annoyed.

"Why me?"

"Because you're the one who seems to be so worried that he deserted us." Jet said. "He's probably still in the hotel somewhere. When you do find him tell him we need to work out a plan." Faye was about to protest but Jet cut her off. "You're not helping here and you won't if you're all steamed up." Faye said nothing and stalked out of the room, slamming the door as she left.

"I wouldn't want to be in John's shoes right now." Spike said as Faye's footsteps slowly faded out. Finding John turned out to be easy. He was sitting at the deserted bar, a place Faye had planned to go anyway. He was nursing a drink in a large shot glass and was half listening to a radio. His back was to her and he didn't see her approach so she walked right up and slapped him over the head. Out of reflex he turned around and his hand went to his holster and the replacement gun he had been given.

"Oh it's you." He said when he recognized her. Angry but amused at the same time Faye was able to resist punching the guy and instead just hit him over the head again. "What's the big deal?!?!"

"I came to see if you decided to actually stick around. We were beginning to think you were off in a corner hiding." Faye responded sarcastically.

"I'm not a coward." John growled.

"You said that you were just going to find some aspirin." Faye pointed out.

"And I found some, the best kind to." He lifted the shot glass he had. "One hundred proof."

"Hoping that if you get drunk enough the problem will go away?" Faye asked but sat down. "Whatever he's having." She told the bartender who nodded and poured her drink.

"I'm not trying to get drunk." John said. Faye gave him a skeptical glance. "Unlike you this is new to me." He waited until the bartender was out of earshot. "Talking computers, aliens, robots, you might be used to this but my nerves are a bit shaky, I'm just trying to calm them down." He finished his drink. "Fighting something like that Terminator wasn't really covered at the academy. It's not something you can just take in stride."

"I already know that." Faye answered then downed her entire drink in one gulp. She called for another one.

"That's right." He said after the bartender walked off. "Jet said you had a run in with our metal friend, but didn't say what." Instead of answering Faye downed her second shot. "How can you do that?"

"Shot nerves let you do amazing things." Faye responded. "To answer your first question I was one that shot off part of that thing's face before you ran into it."

"Wait a minute. You were at that bar where the first shootout was?" Fay nodded. "They told us there weren't any survivors."

"Guess you can't believe everything you hear." Faye said. John snarled and turned away. The betrayal by ISSP still stung, now especially since he found out his commanding officer was part of the organization that had created the Terminator that had killed so many of his fellow officers and nearly killed him. "So were you scared?"

"What?" The question caught John off guard.

"During the shootout. Were you scared?" John was quiet for a moment.

"The part I was awake for yeah. I guess what scared me the worst was when he looked at me with that red eye of his, that's when you realized that you're facing something inhuman."

"If it's any consolation I don't think I could ever be more scared than I was last night. The only thing I could do was shoot and run."

"Really?" John asked. "From the way you've been acting you didn't seem all that shaken." Faye didn't respond and John realized he said the wrong thing. "Sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"It's all right." Faye said. "It's not something that's easy to forget, but I can't let it control my life either." John smirked at the remark.

"Funny, you didn't strike me as the type to admit your feelings."

"Consider yourself lucky. I don't normally tell people much of anything."

"But since you know someone with a traumatic experience similar to yours you find it safe to open up to them, knowing they'll understand." John put in, sounding like he was giving a lecture. Faye gave him an inquiring look. "I took a half semester psychology course back at the academy. Thought it would impress the higher ups." Faye gave him a slight smile. "Don't worry, I won't tell the others how you poured your heart out to an almost complete stranger."

"Thanks, and I guess I won't tell them how you were planning to get piss drunk then run off to some dark corner." Both laughed at the comment. They were silent for several minutes when the bartender approached.

"You folks finished? I'd like to close up."

"Yeah we're done." Faye responded. "He'll be paying."

"Me!?!"

"Hey, opening up to someone doesn't come cheap. Besides, it was your bright idea to come down here." John grumbled something but paid the bartender. ISSP had returned all his personal belongings to him at the hospital including his wallet but not his gun.

"Thanks." The bartender said as he put the money into his pockets. "Do me a favor and turn off the radio when you leave would ya?"

"Sure." John answered and the bartender left. He reached for the radio's switch.

"And in a related story the police are still searching for the lone survivor of the deadly shootout that claimed the lives of thirty-six ISSP officers." John pulled his hand back and listened. "Lieutenant John Connor, a rising star in the ISSP ranks, escaped this morning from the hospital where he was receiving treatment for wounds suffered in the battle. Without warning he attacked several hospital staff, overpowered them and escaped into the streets. Hospital sources said that there had been a steady decline in officer Connor's mental health, most likely a combination of witnessing the attack and a severe head injury suffered during the incident. In the hours before his escape he had begun to suffer delusions and became aggressive towards hospital personal, going off into incomprehensible rants. He was scheduled to be transferred to Pescadero mental hospital but escaped just minutes before the transfer was to take place. Earlier today the head of ISSP Mars released a statement that read 'Now the shootout has become a complete loss. Thirty-six men lost their lives, another has now apparently lost his grip on reality. His family is being consoled and the search continues for him as we speak. We harbor no hatred for Lieutenant Connor, his actions are not his doing and we are making sure he will get the best treatment possible. Even so he is now in a dangerous state of mind and considered dangerous. If you spot him do not approach, such an action might lead to a violent response." John flicked off the radio, took the badge off his uniform and looked at it.

"I guess there's no going back now is there?" He asked, mostly to himself.

"No there isn't." Faye answered. She wasn't about to lie to him. With all the shit they were putting out about him she knew this was something he couldn't escape. John looked up and addressed Faye directly.

"Would you believe I've only been with ISSP three years?"

"You do seem kind of young." Faye said, unsure of what to make of the question. Instead of being insulted John laughed.

"You wouldn't believe how many times I've heard that, but yes you're right. Right after I graduated high school I joined. Actually had to wait almost a year to get in, too young they said. After I did get in I learned the ropes quickly. Unfortunately that included learning the depths of corruption by the syndicates."

"Is that how you got such a high rank?" Faye asked. This time John was insulted but that anger quickly passed.

"I can see how it looks that way but no. I had an uncle that was in ISSP and he taught me everything he knew about being a cop. I used what he taught me and made lieutenant when most guys who joined up at the same time weren't even close to making sergeant. Like they said, I was a rising star." He looked back down at his badge. "I guess I still am. Number one with a bullet."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Faye asked. John took one last hard look at his badge.

"Nothing." He replied and tossed the badge into a trashcan. "What they've said has killed any chance of clearing myself and I can't change the past. Besides, I don't want to be part of any organization that'll doublecross you at the drop of a hat."

"So you think our little group was the best choice?" Faye asked as they walked back to the room.

"Best choice?" John snorted. "Between you guys and prison I'm beginning to think I'd be better off in the loony bin." Faye didn't respond verbally and jammed her elbow into John's ribs. "OW!"

"Very funny." She said dryly. She opened the door and saw Spike and Jet watching Ed work on Tomato. Both noticed John clutching his ribs.

"Decided to go easy on him Faye?" Jet asked. Faye said nothing and sat down.

"We were starting to wonder what happened to you two." Spike said. Faye and John glared at him.

"We were finding out that I'm about to be put on a wanted poster and that they have a straight jacket and padded cell waiting for me." John responded.

"We know that." Jet said. "You don't have a bounty on your head yet but you're still wanted."

"Go figure." John grumbled. "So do we have a plan?"

"Not yet." Jet admitted. "Ed's managed to hack into the computer system at Cyberdyne's headquarters but there's no information about the Terminators. They either have the information on a closed system or at another location. We basically have two choices now. Go to Cyberdyne and try to get some answers out of them and maybe shut the Terminator down at its source. Or take our chances at destroying this thing ourselves."

"I say we go after the Terminator." John volunteered. "We don't know how many of those T-800s they might have crawling around there."

"He's right." Spike agreed. "If we don't know how to destroy just one there's no way we can handle how many might be there."

"What about you Faye?" Jet asked.

"The sooner we get that son of a bitch the better." She answered. Jet nodded.

"I guess we're all in agreement. The first thing we need to do is try and get enough firepower to take this thing out. I have a few contacts but for hardware like we're going to need they're going to want top dollar for it, and right now all our funds are just a little higher then zero."

"I can help with that." John spoke up. Everyone turned in his direction. "I know the guy in charge of our armory. We've been friends since the academy days. He despises the syndicates and he's not going to buy that crap they're saying about me."

"You willing to bet your life on that?" Spike asked. "Because that's just what it might come down to, and you've already seen how deep the syndicate's control runs."

"We can trust him." John answered confidently.

"It's your call." Spike responded with a shrug.

"There any other objections to that?" Jet asked the group. No one spoke. "All right. John, how far away is this armory?"

"About a mile from here. Maybe two." John answered. "Well within walking distance."

"Then we'll walk. Does your friend work the night shift?" John nodded. "Good. We can wait until nightfall, there's less of a chance we'll be spotted. Ed, Ein, you two are coming with us. We can't risk that Terminator finding this place and leaving you two unguarded. We've got a few hours until it gets dark, in the meantime I suggest we all try to get some sleep. It's going to be a long night."

While they waited Terminator was still prowling the streets. He had gone to every known airfield and docking area that would be able to handle the three craft he was looking for. His search was long but he carried it out with the infinite patience that only a machine could have. He finally found the craft in one of the low maintenance docking areas. Using his ISSP alias he gained access to the manager's computer and printed out pictures of the three targets he was tracking. There was a high probability that someone in the immediate area had seen them so he set out questioning the general population. Some had not seen them but others did and had told him where they had seen them. The information he was receiving caused him to return to the same areas several times. The humans did not appear to be deceiving him but their information was inconclusive. True to his programming he continued to follow all possible leads, even if they led nowhere.

As Terminator continued to go in circles John lead the others through the back streets towards the ISSP armory. Ed and Ein kept up with the group with no problem, despite the fact that Ed had Tomato balanced on her head, insisting that it was to important to leave behind.

"Just out of curiosity how do you know the streets so well?" Faye asked.

"What, did you think I started out as a lieutenant?" John responded. "I started out just like every other cop did, on patrol duty. Everyone had to learn the shortcuts fleeing suspects might try to go through or hide in. Never thought I'd be using them myself though."

As they came closer to their objective Terminator came closer to his. Instead of a general direction he received a location. As he entered the hotel the manager looked up from his desk.

"Can I help you?" The manager asked. Terminator walked over and put all three pictures on his desk.

"Have seen any of these people?" He asked in his neutral voice

"Kind of blunt aren't you pal?" Terminator's only response was a blank stare. "Right." He picked up the pictures and examined every one of them. "Nope haven't seen them." As the manager spoke Terminator analyzed the stress of his voice, heart rate, respiration, even the motion of his eyes. All led him to conclude one thing.

"You are lying." Terminator stated. The manager's face remained impassive but his heart rate began to rapidly increase.

"Look, I already gave you my answer."

"I don't think you have." Terminator interrupted, showing him the fake badge.

"I don't care if you are a cop! You've got to the count of three to get out of here or else!!!"

"Or else what?" Terminator asked. He had asked that question so he could formulate an appropriate counter measure if need be. The manager, however, took it as an insult and a challenge.

"Or else I'll throw you out of here myself!!! ONE!! TWO!!!!" Terminator didn't move. "THREE!!" Terminator remained impassive. The manager was so angry that he temporarily forgot that the other guy was over half a foot taller then he was and stormed around his desk to confront him. "Ok wise-ass you asked for it!!" He shoved the other man with all his might but Terminator didn't budge. Surprised the manager tried again and got the same results. Out of frustration the manager wound up and punched Terminator in the jaw as hard as he could. There was a sickening crunch as the manager's knuckles collided with Terminators metal jaw followed by the manager's screams of pain. As he looked at his now mangled hand Terminator grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

"Where are they?" Terminator asked.

"I'm telling ya I don't know!!!" The manager yelled. Terminator tightened his grip and the manager started to make choking sounds as he fought for air.

"Where are they?" Terminator asked again.

"Rooms seventeen and eighteen!!" The manager screamed. After computing the manager was telling the truth Terminator snapped the man's neck then stuffed the body under his desk. Drawing his Desert Eagle he searched out room seventeen and after he found it kicked the door in with no warning. Sweeping the gun from side to side he found no sign of any occupants. He quickly searched the bathroom and closest then ransacked the room for anything that might reveal their whereabouts. Finding nothing he repeated the process with room eighteen but his search again came up empty. The most likely place they would be is in the eating and drinking areas of the building. The dining area had very few people in it and none of them were his targets. Turning on the lights of the drinking area he saw it was empty and began to leave when he heard a crash. Quickly drawing his gun he pointed it in the area the noise had come from and saw a trashcan overturned and something rooting around inside it. His CPU identified it as a rat seeking food and he put his gun away. His optics caught the glint of metal off an oddly shaped object. Determining it not to be a normal item of refuse he walked over and picked it up, ignoring the angry squeaks of the rat as it ran off. It was an ISSP badge, number 721. Visual examination confirmed its authenticity and he ran a search of the officer that the badge was issued. The information was found in less then a second.

Connor, John

Age: 22

Rank: Lieutenant

Planet of Origin: Mars

Criminal Record : None

A quick check told Terminator that John Connor had no affiliation with any syndicate. While he could not compute why the badge had been left here he estimated a 75% probability that his targets had contacted Connor in the hopes they could receive help from ISSP. The most likely action they would have taken is to go to the nearest ISSP location. As he left the hotel he took out his communicator and activated it.

"This is agent 001" He spoke.

"Go ahead." Said the voice from the other end.

"I have a lead on the targets. They have made contact with an officer at ISSP and may attempt to receive assistance."

"What are their current locations?" The voice asked.

"Unknown." Terminator answered. "There is a high probability they will make contact with the ISSP. They must be intercepted."

"What's the officer's name?" The voice asked.

"John Connor."

"Wait a minute. Lieutenant John Connor?"

"Affirmative."

"I think you need to keep up with the news more." The voice told him.

"Why?" Terminator asked, not recognizing the sarcasm.

"John Connor managed to survive that little fireworks display you put on last night. We tried to silence him but he managed to escape, with help. We've managed to convince everyone that he's gone insane and orders are to arrest him on sight." Terminator knew it was his current targets that had helped Connor escape, there was a hundred percent probability of it. Now there was another human that knew his identity and must be terminated. "He won't go back to ISSP help, that's for sure." Terminator wasn't so certain. Connor was not associated with any known syndicate and could have allies within the force.

"Have our agents in ISSP be on alert. They may attempt contact despite the risks. Contact me if they do."

"Roger that." The voice answered. Terminator turned off the radio and brought up a map of the city. He located all buildings used by ISSP in the area and found the one closest to his current location. The probability was high that contact would be attempted at that building so he headed towards it.

The group had finally made it to the armory and walked up to the front door, the only access it had to the outside.

"You sure there's nobody else here except your friend?" Jet asked.

"Shouldn't be." John answered. "He's the only one on duty and most of the units that need specific weapons would have gotten them already." He opened the door and they walked in.

"Great security." Spike joked as they walked in. "Let anybody and everybody in."

"Anyone can get in here." John replied. "Getting to the weapons," He pointed to what appeared to be blast door. "that's something else." They walked up to a window that looked like a bank teller's window. Only this one was made out of almost a foot of bulletproof glass with only a small slit to slip weapons requests and receipts back and forth. Inside the office behind the glass an ISSP guard, wearing body armor and the three stripes of a sergeant, sat in front of several monitors reading a magazine.

"No dogs allowed." The guard said without looking up.

"Well if you're guarding the place you need as much help as you can." John shot back. The guard let out a short laugh and looked up.

"More like you need all the help you can get." The guard said. "Do you know I'm breaking the law just by talking to you?"

"Do you really believe that?" John asked.

"Hell no!" The guard answered. "Give me a second and I'll buzz you in, but you do have to leave that dog outside. Visitors are ok but if someone shows up and catches an animal in here people are going to ask questions." Ein gave an angry growl.

"Calm down Ein." Jet told him. "It'd be better if you kept watch outside anyway." Ein looked from Jet back to the guard, gave an annoyed growl and headed for the door, pushed it open and went outside. There was a loud buzz and the blast door opened. Going through it they walked into a long hallway with similar doors on both sides. A smaller but just as solidly built door hissed opened and the guard invited them into the office. They walked in and saw how the guard knew they were coming. One of the monitors showed the outside of the front door and they saw Ein yawn and lie down.

"So John who exactly is this weird posse you got with you?" The guard asked.

"I guess introductions are in order. This group is the crew of a ship called the Bebop. This is Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine, Jet Black,"

"_The_ Jet Black?" The guard interrupted.

"The Black Dog himself." John confirmed.

"No kidding? I thought he was dead." Jet growled at the remark while Spike and Faye started to smirk.

"I wouldn't make anymore jokes like that if I were you." John warned. The guard nodded in acknowledgment. John pointed to Ed. "And the little one with the computer on her head is …."

"Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the fourth! Pleased to meet you." Ed interrupted.

"Very…, interesting name." The guard said.

"You like that?" Ed asked. "Ed made it up." The guard gave John a confused look and John responded with a shrug. "What's your name?" She asked the guard.

"Curious little thing isn't she?" The guard said to John.

"Very." John replied. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Kyle Reese." Kyle shook hands with each of them, except for Ed who was examining his terminal.

"So what's the deal John?" Kyle asked, skipping formalities. "I know you didn't come down here just to show me your strange choice of friends." He looked over at Ed, who had set Tomato down and began to hook it up.

"We're in a real fix here Kyle and we could really use your help."

"Your problem I know about." He told John. "But what stake does this bunch have in it?"

"A big one." Faye answered. "The same thing that's after John is after us to."

"And what would that be?" Kyle asked. John looked at the rest of the group.

"Should we?" He asked. The others were silent.

"If he's going to help us he might as well know the score." Spike spoke up. After a second of thought Jet nodded.

"Show him Ed." Jet told her.

"Roger Jet person." Ed responded and began typing. Kyle looked over at Tomato's screen and started when a picture of a Terminator endoskeleton appeared, complete with technical data.

"What the hell is that thing?" Kyle asked.

"That," Jet responded. "Is what's after us. It's called a Terminator, a robot designed to look like a person, and programmed only to kill and destroy."

"Hold it!" Kyle spoke up. "You're starting to sound like one of those B movies. John you can't take this garbage seriously."

"It's all true." John responded flatly. Kyle sighed and shook his head.

"John, you're starting to sound like the things they're saying are right about you. I don't know what you guys did to make him believe this but,"

"What we did!?!?!" Faye shouted. Kyle nodded.

"There's no way John would believe any of this bullshit." He looked Faye up and down. "Although looking like that you could tell someone anything and they wouldn't ask questions." Everyone but Ed knew what the joke was and Faye started to lunge at him but Jet and Spike grabbed her arms.

"Calm down Faye!" Jet yelled. "Killing him isn't going to help."

"Let's find out about that!" Faye yelled and again tried to lunge but Jet and Spike held fast.

"Better explain quick before she breaks loose." Spike said.

"What's her problem?" Kyle asked.

"She's been though a lot lately and so have I. So listen up and listen well _**sergeant**_." John answered. Now he had Kyle listening but he had a suspicious look on his face. "Look Kyle, we've been friends since the academy. You know I don't mess around when something is serious, right?"

"I guess so."

"Then you've got to believe me, this thing is real. It's real, it's tough and it doesn't give a rats ass about anything but what it's told." As Kyle listened he kept an eye on the still struggling Faye, the whole time with a skeptical look on his face. "It nearly killed her last night and it killed all those guys in the shootout." Now he had Kyle's complete attention. Seeing that he was finally taking this seriously Faye calmed down. "That's right, the person who shot up our guys was one of those." He pointed to the screen. "A quarter inch deeper and he would have killed me to." He pointed to the cut on his head. Kyle shook his head again.

"Then where did it come from? Who made it? And how can one do all that?" Kyle asked, trying to prove that what he was hearing was false.

"We don't have time to give you all the details." Jet answered. "But we can tell you that it's built to be almost indestructible." Kyle gave him a skeptical look. "Think about it. In the shootout, how many rounds did ISSP fire."

"Latest report is over a thousand." Kyle answered.

"And how many bodies did they find on the other side."

"None." Kyle responded, beginning to understand but not liking it.

"That's because this thing is designed to absorb an almost unheard amount of punishment." Jet continued. "It knows who Faye is and who she's associates with, both her and John know what that Terminator really is and the people who built it don't want that known. Take our word for it, this thing won't stop until we're all dead, and if it finds out about you you'll be next. If it can find us it can find you. We have to destroy that thing and John said you could help. Are you going to or not?" Kyle rubbed the bridge of his nose and sat down.

"All right." He said quietly. "It's going to cost me my job but I'll help." He looked over at John. "You're positive all this is on the level." John nodded. "I guess you've got a new recruit. But first I need to know…" He was interrupted by loud barking coming from one of the monitors. On it they saw Ein standing, ears back and looking like he was ready to pounce. His barking was loud and fast, it didn't even seem like he was stopping for breath. "What's his problem?"

"Don't know." Jet said.

"Edward will find out!" Ed yelled and hit a button on Tomato. The buzzer sounded and both the office and blast door opened. Ed ran out before any of them could do anything.

"WHAT THE….!?!?!?!" Everyone looked at Kyle who was looking at the door controls he hadn't touched. "That little…!!! She hacked into the system!! Right under my nose!!!!" The others started smiling.

"I am looking for these people. I am also looking for John Connor have you seen him?" A deep and emotionless voice came from the monitor. All of them turned towards it. Kyle heard Faye gasp and when he turned saw she had gone sheet white. John was looking a little on the pale side to. Jet and Spike didn't have quite a dramatic reaction but they tensed up at the sight they were witnessing. On the monitor, towering over Ed, was the Terminator they had tried so hard to avoid.


	8. Prelude to Battle

Chapter 8: Prelude to Battle

According to Terminator's maps the closest ISSP building was an armory. Its security was mostly automated with the need for only one guard. As he approached the building a dog his files identified as a Welsh Corgi began barking at him. The condition of the animal revealed it wasn't a stray and there was no record of that breed being used by ISSP so it was probably a pet of the guard on duty or a visitor. He ignored the dog's angry barks and headed for the door when a small human burst out of the building and nearly ran into him, he estimated its age to be in the early teens. He ran the image of its face through his data files but couldn't find any matches. It stopped and looked up at him. For a moment the human looked surprised then began to smile.

"Hi. My name is Ed. Who're you?" The human asked, in a high-pitched voice. The dog stopped barking but continued to growl. Terminator showed it his fake badge.

"I'm a policeman." Terminator answered. The human, Ed, seemed to be cooperative and might know where his targets were so he took out the pictures he had and showed them to it. "I am looking for these people. I am also looking for John Connor have you seen him?"

"What does John Connor look like?" The human asked. It was a question Terminator had expected to be asked and had already prepared an answer.

"He is dressed like a police officer and would be traveling with these three. Have you seen any of them?" Ed looked at the pictures again and her eyes seemed to light up.

"Ed remembers now!! Edward knows where they are!!" That did not go over too well in the office were the others were hiding.

"What the hell is she doing!?!?" Kyle hissed, even though there was no way the Terminator could hear him.

"Don't worry." Jet said. "She wouldn't do this unless she has something up her sleeve."

"Just in case you'd better get those weapons rooms open." Spike added. Kyle didn't need to be told twice and began the procedure to open the doors, still paying attention to what was on the screen.

"You are positive you have seen them?" Terminator asked. Ed nodded. "All four of them?" Ed nodded enthusiastically. "Where are they?" In the office everybody held their breath. Outside Ed somersaulted, came up into a mock dramatic pose and pointed down the street.

"They went that way!!!" She declared in an equally mock dramatic voice. The Terminator stood silent, scrutinizing her words. Heart rate was steady, there was no voice stress detectable, her eyes never wavered. All indicated she was telling the truth, but there was something in the way she acted that made the Terminator second-guess his data. Mentally unstable humans could lie successfully because they thought they were telling the truth, and Ed seemed to fit the bill of mental instability.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Edward is very sure!" Again everything indicated no lies but something still didn't compute.

"What are you doing here?" Terminator asked.

"Seeing a friend." Ed answered. In the office everyone began to get nervous.

"Only ISSP personnel are allowed here." Terminator said. In the office Kyle jumped out of his chair and ran out the door.

"Hey wait a minute!" John yelled and tried to follow. Jet grabbed the back of his shirt collar.

"Are you nuts? That thing knows who you are. You go out there and he'll recognize you, then we're all in deep trouble." John stayed put and they looked back towards the monitor.

[This is bar-none the stupidest thing I've ever done.] Kyle thought to himself as he raced towards the door. Stupid but also necessary. That terminator was trying to trap Ed in a lie and if he didn't help she would be. When he opened the door Terminator, Ed and Ein looked over at him. "ED!" He yelled, trying to sound extremely annoyed. "Have you been bothering people again?!?"

"Edward isn't bothering." She said with a pout, sounding slightly annoyed herself. "Edward is helping." Ein let out another low growl in Terminator's direction.

"You be quiet." He said to Ein. He then addressed Ed. "Didn't I tell you that you needed to behave yourself?" Ed crossed her arms and started to sulk.

"Are you in command of this facility?" Terminator asked, ignoring Ed for the moment.

"Yeah I'm in charge." Kyle answered.

"Why do you have an animal and an unauthorized civilian on the premises?" Terminator asked. Kyle didn't know what was worse, the deadpan way he was asking the questions, or his emotionless face. That he was wearing sunglasses in the dead of night didn't help either.

"I promised a friend that she could look around, and I didn't expect she'd bring this stupid mutt along." This time Ein growled at him. Kyle tried to remain calm. Lying to a machine should be easy. So why was he so nervous? [Because if he finds out I'm lying we're all dead.] Kyle told himself. "Look I know it's against regulations but can't you cut a guy some slack? If they find out about this I'll be busted down to janitor."

The first thing Terminator did when the second human came out of the building was run the image of its face through his files to identify him. After he found the identity he crossed-referenced it with all four of his targets. The only thing Kyle Reese had in common with any of the others was that he had graduated from the ISSP academy the same time as John Connor had. Not enough to prove anything definite. As for his words they might be lies but he appeared to be nervous about being turned in and that could throw off all of his readings. That nervousness could work to his advantage.

"I won't report this." Terminator told him. "If you help me find these three." He handed him the pictures. Humans always seemed willing to corporate more if they were given a second option not in their favor. Kyle studied the pictures for a moment.

"I've seen these three. They passed by here earlier but I didn't see where they went." It was a partial lie and Kyle hoped it would be enough. Terminator seemed to be considering it when Ed spoke up.

"Ed saw where they went and Ed already told him!"

"Ed, if you were lying to this man…." Kyle said.

"Edward doesn't lie! Only mean people like you lie!!" She responded. She then blew a long, loud raspberry in Kyle's direction. Kyle rushed over, and even though Ed tried to run, grabbed the back of her shirt.

"I've had just about enough of you!" He scolded as Ed started flailing around in an attempt to escape. "You were told to behave and you didn't! Why can't you do what you're told?!"

"Edward doesn't wanna!!" Ed wailed. "MEANIE, MEANIE!! She began yelling. She again made an exaggerated effort to get out of Kyle's grasp.

"I'm really sorry about this sir!" Kyle had to yell over Ed's caterwauling. "If you'd give me a minute I can take care of this troublemaker and…"

"Don't bother." Terminator said. Both were acting strangely but there was no evidence to suggest it was nothing more then the breach in regulations. All evidence pointed that Ed and Sergeant Reese weren't lying and that his targets had been here and left. Despite that he was again second-guessing the data. He finally computed that the only way to verify their story was to follow it up. If the story proved false he would know where to look. "I'll be back." He promised the two of them. The dog gave another loud growl.

"Knock it off!" Kyle hissed at the dog. "I'm sorry sir, he usually doesn't act like this."

"Dogs don't like me." Terminator replied. Kyle nodded.

"I'll make sure he doesn't bother you anymore. All right killer, inside." Ein let out a loud whine but complied. "As for you." He said to a still struggling Ed and half dragged half pushed her inside. Terminator watched them go, then turned and left. There was a police station in the direction Ed had pointed and it was the most likely place his targets would go.

Inside the armory Ed continued to thrash in Kyle's grip while Ein followed behind them.

"Is he gone?" Kyle whispered. Like a switch had been flipped Ed quieted down, stopped thrashing and looked behind them.

"Yep." Kyle exhaled loudly and let her go. "Did Edward do good?" She asked hopefully.

"You did very good." Kyle answered, giving thanks she had caught on so quickly. "No hard feelings ok pal?" He said to Ein. To his surprise Ein barked in response. When they walked back into the office the others started applauding. Kyle and Ed looked at each other then started bowing. "Thank you, we'll be here all week."

"So you still got doubts about this?" Spike asked him. Instead of answering Kyle clutched his chest and acted like he was a having a heart attack. "Guess not."

"There's no question now, I'm in." Kyle said. "Whatever you guys want, you got it."

"Then lets get started." Jet said. Kyle nodded and led them to the weapons storage rooms.

"We have three main rooms." Kyle explained. "One for the guns, one for ammo and one for explosives. I've also got some bad news."

"Spit it out." John said.

"Most of the really heavy stuff has been signed out already." The others groaned. "Don't blame me. Nobody's taking chances after the shootout. All the good rocket launchers were already taken. There're some older LAW rockets, lots of grenades, even some C4 but that's it."

"I guess we'll just have to make do." Jet stated. "We'll need anything you have that can knock out a vehicle. Each of us should take something different to, we don't know how effective any of these things will be." He stepped into the weapons storage and gave an appreciative whistle. Weapons of all sorts were arranged in rows. Pistols, rifles, even a few machine guns all in one very large room. He picked up a large, nasty looking rifle.

"Barrett fifty caliber sniper rifle. Supposed to be able to take out anything short of a tank." Despite the seriousness of the situation Kyle sounded like a salesman.

"That's why I'm taking it." Jet said as he went to the ammo storage and started to load a clip. "So you're the resident gun nut?"

"Expert." Kyle corrected. "Gun expert. A gun nut is someone who treats his guns better then his kids." As he was talking Faye picked up what looked like a very pregnant Tommy gun.

"Hey 'expert'. Do you have any real ammunition for this?" She asked. The weapon she had selected was a MM-1 Hawk twelve shot 40mm grenade launcher that was usually used to fire tear gas in riots.

"We've got some high explosive rounds. Help yourself."

"Don't mind if I do." She responded and followed Jet into the ammo storage. John continued to look and Kyle noticed someone was missing.

"Where's Spike?" He asked.

"In here." Spike's voice drifted out of the explosive's storage. He came out carrying several LAW rockets. "No one else seems to want these so I'll take them."

"Sure you know how to use those?" Kyle asked. "They're a bit out of date." In response Spike put all but one of the rockets down.

"I think it goes something like this." He said. He then expertly extended the tube at the same time flicking off the safety, flipped the sights up, aimed it, and mimicked pressing the firing button.

"Sorry I asked." Kyle said, not expecting the speed at which Spike had handled the weapon. John stepped out into the hallway and Spike frowned when he noticed the type of gun he was carrying.

"I don't think a SAW is going to cut it John." Spike said. The M249 squad automatic weapon was good when you were fighting people but it fired the same type of bullet as the M-16, and that would be useless against a Terminator.

"This is a new model." John explained, able to guess Spike's skepticism. "It's built to chamber a bigger round and hopefully there's a healthy supply of armor piercing bullets here." He went into the ammo storage and found Faye loading up the cylinders of her grenade launcher with HE rounds and Jet loading a fourth oversize clip with fifty-caliber ammo. When the clip was full he inserted it into the gun and chambered a round. Faye finished loading her weapon and checked the sights. John took a box clip for the SAW and attached it to the side of his weapon, threading the belt ammunition through the receiver and cocked the weapon.

"Everybody ready?" Kyle asked when they were finished making adjustments on their chosen weapons.

"Everyone except you." Spike answered.

"Me?!?" Kyle asked in surprise. Spike nodded.

"You're going to play a bigger part in this then you thought." Spike explained. "Don't think we're ungrateful for this but in addition to the guns you're going to provide some help when we actually find this thing."

"Hold on." Kyle broke in. "You don't even have a plan yet and you're asking me to be a part of it?"

"You don't have a whole lot of choice." Jet replied. "That Terminator knows who you are. How long do you think it'll take for it to make the connection between you and us?" Kyle shook his head.

"Not long." He said. "Looks like I'm committed now. What do you want me to do?"

"You're going to be guarding Ed and Ein. If we can't destroy this thing you need to get them out of there. It'd probably be a good idea to get yourself a weapon." Jet explained. Kyle nodded and left the room. He came back a few seconds later carrying a large revolver. "A wheel gun? That's the best you can think of?"

"It's a 44 Magnum." Kyle defended. "One of the most powerful handguns ever made. But what's going to make it special is this." He walked to the back of the room where another door marked 'Contraband' was located. "This is were we keep the all the stuff ISSP isn't allowed to use. All this was taken off the street and was scheduled to be destroyed in a few days." He inputted a code into a keypad then put his hand onto a panel so his DNA and fingerprints could be read. "We've picked up almost everything, chemical, biological, there's even a rumor that we hauled in a nuke one time." The door opened and he stepped inside. "This is actually kind of puny compared with the rest." He brought out a box that had the label 'Rhino - 44 Magnum' on it.

"I can see why those are kept under lock and key." Jet said. Kyle nodded. He opened the gun and began to load the chambers.

"Practically nobody uses these things." He said as he finished loading the gun then began to load a couple of speed loaders. "They're almost too good at what they do."

"You know their motto." Faye spoke up. "'Nothing stops a Rhino.'"

"Lets hope that holds up. Cause if that Terminator manages to get by all of you I'm going to need a small miracle to stop it." Kyle said as he finished the last of the speed loaders. He took out his regulation sidearm and replaced it with the Magnum. "I guess I'm ready. What's the plan?"

"First we need to find someplace where we can fight this thing on our own terms." Jet said. They went back to the office and had Ed display a map of the city. "We'll have to fight it out in the open, in close quarters our weapons will be as dangerous as his."

"What we need to do is utilize what we've got to our best advantage." John said, the combat lessons from the academy starting to come back.

"That means putting our best stuff on the high ground." Jet continued. He watched the map scroll by on Tomato's screen. "Freeze it there Ed." Ed did so and Jet pointed to what he had found. "Right here. A side street a couple of blocks from here that's a dead end, the buildings on either give us great shooting positions."

"Ok we've got an ambush sight." Faye said. "But how is he going to know where to go if we're all on the roof?"

"We're not all going to be on the roof." Jet said. "That Terminator is going to have to be led down that side street."

"OH NO!!" Faye shouted, knowing were this was going. "I'm not going to be the bait for this one!! You're not going to get me to go find that thing by myself!!!"

"We wouldn't dream of that Faye." Jet replied with a bit of humor. "John's going with you."

"WHAT?!?!" John shouted.

"You two have weapons that give you greater mobility then the rest of us." Jet explained. "You'll need to be able to hit and run."

"Then what about Spike?" John asked. "He can fire and maneuver better then any of us." His face suddenly contorted in pain as Faye drove her heel into the top of his foot.

"Forget it! You're not going to slink your way out of this. If I have to go so do you!" Faye yelled and for good measure ground her heel in deeper, getting a shout of pain from John. She took her foot off and John began hopping around on one leg.

"Thanks. I'm probably crippled for life." John snarled. Faye responded with a sneer of her own.

"Mind if I finish?" Jet asked. "Spike has to stay on the roof because those rockets are the best chance we have of destroying that thing. Any other questions?" Between his throbbing foot and the glare Faye was giving him John decided to keep his mouth shut. "Good. Kyle you stay here and keep an eye on Ed and Ein, it's probably the safest place right now." Kyle nodded. "Then I guess the only thing left is to get some transportation." All of them looked at Kyle.

"Hey don't look at me. I take the bus."

"Then I guess we're going to have to improvise." Jet said. "There're parking lots all over the place so we can 'borrow' a car for a while. Everybody ready?" The others nodded. "Then lets get going. Ed, show Kyle everything we've got so far, he deserves to see all of it." Putting their spare ammunition into duffel bags Jet, Faye, Spike and John left the armory, Kyle locked down every door in the building.

"Ok Mr. Terminator, let's see what you're made of." Kyle said as he crouched down to view Tomato's screen.

John and the others walked into one of the parking lots of a nearby building and surveyed their options.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" John asked.

"Something fast but not something that would look out of place."

"How about this?" Faye asked. The three turned and saw her sitting on the hood of a blue sports car.

"Perfect." Jet said. Faye hopped behind the wheel, putting her grenade launcher between the seats.

"So I suppose you know how to disable the alarm and hot wire a car?" John asked. The engine roared to life and Faye gave him a smug smile. "I've got to stop asking stupid questions like that." He mumbled. Jet and Spike put all the spare equipment into the back and climbed in while John climbed into the passenger side. They drove to the side street and Jet and Spike got out, slung their weapons onto their backs and climbed up the fire escapes of buildings on opposite sides of the street.

"Remember the plan." Jet called down as he climbed. "Just find him and lead him back here."

"We're not idiots Jet!" John yelled back.

"Speak for yourself." Faye deadpanned. John glared at her.

"Fight nice kids." Spike called down. That earned him a glare form both of them and John motioned to reach for his SAW in the backseat, while Faye grabbed the grenade launcher. Spike smiled and Faye put the car in gear and drove off.

"That was a little too tempting wasn't it?" John asked.

"Almost." Faye agreed. "So you want to explain yourself?"

"Explain what?" John asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"Trying to weasel out of coming with me? What you said was a pretty lame excuse."

"Bullshit." John responded. "You're looking forward to this as much as I am. You would have tried to get out of this to given the chance. The only reason you're angry is because I beat you to it. Am I right?" Faye didn't answer. "I am right. You had the same argument but I said it first." Faye scowled and John started laughing.

"Then you know why I was going to say that." John stopped laughing and became deadly serious.

"Because you're just as scared as I am." Again Faye didn't answer but both of them knew he was right.

While the Bebop crew had been preparing Terminator was walking into the police station in the direction Ed had pointed. He asked all the officers on duty and none of them had seen either John Connor or his other three targets. His ISSP alias held up and he was able to get a meeting with the chief.

"Well detective Smith, how can we be of assistance?" Terminator handed him the pictures he had.

"These three are wanted fugitives. They are considered armed and extremely dangerous. In addition to having a police search I would like to request a bounty be placed on each of them." The chief looked a bit apprehensive. "Contact the commissioner, he will confirm my report." The chief nodded.

"Shouldn't be too hard. Is there anything else I should know about these three?"

"Yes. Two ISSP officers are believed to be in league with these criminals. Sergeant Kyle Reese and Lieutenant John Connor. I want a bounty placed on their heads as well."

"But those two are fine officers."

"I know, both their records indicate no criminal activity but these three," He pointed to the pictures. "Helped Connor escape when he had no reason to other then his activities were going to be discovered."

"So you have evidence?"

"Nothing that can be revealed at this time, but yes." Terminator answered. The chief picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Sir, I've got a Detective Smith here. He says that…" He stopped and listened. "Yes sir. I see. All possible means? Very well sir. I'll keep you posted." He hung up and faced Terminator.

"The commissioner verified everything you said. Also said to assist you in any way possible. The bounties will be placed right away. Is there anything else?"

"Yes. I may know where they are. I need a vehicle and a heavier weapon."

"But if you know where they are why place the bounties?"

"In case I am incorrect." Terminator said flatly.

"Then I'll arrange for some backup to go with you." The chief began to pick up the phone.

"No." Terminator said quickly.

"No? But why not? If this group is as dangerous as you say…."

"I have been assigned to them and I will be the one to apprehend them. If I require assistance I will ask for it."

"No problem, we can have a unit tail you at a distance and…."

"You will send no units, and you will send no officers without my say-so. Understood?" Terminator interrupted. The chief started to say something but stopped. For starters this guy had the commissioner's ear. Normally even that wouldn't keep him from chewing out someone who had just mouthed off to a superior officer but there was something about this guy that didn't seem right.

"It's your call." He finally said. "See the Sergeant at the front desk about getting a cruiser and a weapon." The man took out a pair of dark wraparound sunglasses, put them on and left without a word. For a weapon he chose a regular M-16 assault rifle, but he took several drum magazines capable of holding fifty rounds each. After signing out a cruiser he started towards the direction of the armory he had been to before. There was a slim chance that his quarry was still there but it was the most logical place to start looking.

While Terminator was going back where he came from Faye and John were headed in the direction he had gone in after Ed and Kyle had convinced him to leave. Unknown to any of them was that they were on a collision course.


	9. Confrontation

Chapter 9: Confrontation

"So how far do you think he got?" John asked as they continued to drive.

"Who knows." Faye answered. Ahead of them she saw the familiar sight of a blue and white police cruiser. "Cop car." She told John. Nonchalantly he put his arm over the seat, putting the SAW in easy reach if he needed it, but looking like he was just relaxing. He didn't intend to shoot a fellow officer but the sight of his gun would make anyone think twice about trying to stop them. As the two cars passed each other John kept his eyes forward, any suspicious movement would increase the chance they would be stopped. Faye glanced at the car out of the corner of her eye but had to turn and look as she saw the driver. Time seemed to slow as they passed each other. The face was unmistakable, an unreadable expression now with dark sunglasses. They had almost literally run into the Terminator they had been perusing. What was worse while she had noticed the Terminator also noticed her, those inhuman eyes locking onto her behind those dark glasses. Time returned to normal and both cars speed past each other. Faye slammed on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt, throwing both of them forward. Behind them Terminator also hit the brakes and yanked the wheel to one side, executing a perfect one hundred eighty-degree turn. Once he was facing his targets he reached for his assault gun.

"What was that for?!?" John shouted when the car had stopped.

"It's him!!" She shouted back.

"You're sure?" John asked but started to pick up the SAW. Before Faye could answer a hail of bullets shattered the windshield, making both of them duck. "Forget I asked." He said as he snapped the safety of his weapon off. The gunfire continued. "Well we found him." He joked as they were showered with glass from the shattered windshield.

"So what are you waiting for!?! Shoot that bastard!!" Both flinched as another bust of gunfire whizzed over their heads. After that there was silence.

"You got it!" John shouted as he jumped into the back seat and set his weapon. Taking aim he sprayed the drivers side with bullets and the squad car's windshield virtually disintegrated under the hail of armor piercing rounds. After he halted his burst he saw two things that made his spirit sink. For one he saw that while his aim had not been off even the armor piercing rounds failed to do any damage to the Terminator. Again only portions of the outer skin had been shot away revealing parts of the metal endoskeleton. The second thing he saw was that it was calmly reloading his gun with a very large clip. He turned back to Faye and saw she was watching the events unfold. "Drive!!" He yelled. Faye didn't need to be told twice, she put the car into high gear, pushed the gas pedal to the floor and peeled out, almost throwing John out of the car and nearly made him drop his gun.

"Hang on!!" She shouted. The warning came a little too late but John wasn't about to complain. The Terminator fired at the retreating car, the bullets tearing up the pavement as the left a trail that seemed to chase the car. As his targets began to pull away Terminator put his car into gear and began to pursue. When he got into range he again began to fire on the fleeing vehicle. In response John tried to return fire as best he could, but the turns and bumps were throwing off his aim. As they raced through the streets exchanging gunfire John noticed the cruiser was catching up. They were slowing down!!!

"What the hell are you doing!?!?" He shouted over his shoulder.

"Trust me!" Was her only reply. That was not what John wanted to hear. He was also in no condition to argue so he continued to fire at the pursuing vehicle, which added another burst of speed and fired another salvo that came dangerously close to hitting him. He fired a return burst at the cruiser's tires but after several shots the gun clicked empty. He detached the empty box magazine and brought out another.

"Whatever you're going to do, do it fast!!" He yelled as he opened the top of the gun and threaded the belt through.

"If you insist." Faye replied. That was even worse then 'Trust me'. He could just hear the smirk she was wearing. Before he could give it any more thought Faye gave the car more gas and nearly threw him to the to the floor but he kept his balance and cocked the weapon. "Get ready." She warned. Even though bullets were still whizzing by he looked over his shoulder to see what she was talking about. His heart almost stopped when he saw that they were heading at high speed for the side of a building.

"Oh shit!!" He ducked down into the car to keep from falling out. He had a good idea what Faye was trying and didn't want to be splattered onto the building if she did this wrong. Before they crashed into the wall Faye spun the wheel as fast as she could, pushing the brake pedal to the floor. The car screeched to a halt parallel to the wall with no more then an inch of space to spare. Taking her foot off the brake Faye slammed onto the gas and again spun the wheel, racing head on towards the pursuing cruiser. She shot past it and Terminator tried to duplicate the move to turn around but the cruiser could not match the high performance sports car's agility. It was able to perform the ninety-degree turn but could not slow down in time and slammed into the wall sideways at over forty miles per hour. John heard the crash and felt their car jerk to a halt. He stood just in time to see the cruiser's passenger side door fly off courtesy of Terminator's foot. Taking aim he cut loose a long burst that riddled the front part of the car but Terminator continued to climb out, ignoring the hail of bullets. With calm demeanor he raised his assault gun and started to take aim despite the hail of bullet strikes that tore off chunks of his skin. John was about to tell Faye to get going when behind him he heard a loud thump. A spilt second later an explosion erupted from Terminator's chest and threw him back into the cruiser. It lay motionless; the grip of the rifle still clutched in his hand and the rest torn off from the explosion. Turning around John say Faye holding the grenade launcher, resting it on her shoulder.

"Guess mister invincible wasn't as tough as he thought he was." She said. John smiled at the remark. Going up against this thing seemed to be the best therapy for what had happened to them before.

"Guess they don't make them like they used to." He replied and Faye smiled back. Their good mood disappeared as they heard something clatter to the ground. Looking back at the wrecked cruiser they saw that Terminator had gotten up and dropped what was left of the rifle. The grenade had turned its chest into a patch of blackened metal surrounded by charred skin that still had smoke rising from it, but had done no real damage. Its clothes had several small patches on fire but it ignored them. It drew its pistol but only brought out the butt of it. Discarding the second destroyed weapon he began to walk towards John and Faye. Both leveled their weapons and opened fire. A second grenade impacted and threw the Terminator back, but he got up and started to move forward again. The torrent of bullets that stuck him sparked and ricocheted off in all directions. A third grenade knocked it into the side of the cruiser.

"Go down!! Damn you!! GO DOWN!!" Faye yelled at it as it began to stand after the last grenade hit.

[This is getting us nowhere.] John told himself as he continued to fire his own weapon, which was just as useless. A frontal assault wasn't working, they needed to think of something else. An idea struck him when he saw where the Terminator was standing in front of the cruiser. "Hit the gas tank!!" He yelled then ducked down to give Faye a clean shot. Taking careful aim Faye fired a third grenade low and to the rear of the cruiser. It exploded in a large fireball that engulfed the Terminator. "Good shooting." He said as the car continued to burn. "Think that'll be able to melt him?" His question was answered when a form completely covered in flames walked out of the inferno. As they watched the Terminator approach they saw him ripping off pieces of burning skin and tossing them aside. What scraps of skin he did not remove the fire quickly consumed, leaving the metallic endoskeleton completely exposed. It looked exactly like what they had seen in the old footage, it's metal skull with its glowing red eyes that focused on them with inhuman coldness and teeth that made it look like the machine was smiling. That permanent smile took a sinister edge as Terminator sprinted at them. Faye threw her weapon into the passenger seat and gave the car as much gas as she could. With a squeal of tires the car shot away from the pursuing Terminator. The engine began to whine in protest.

"Don't give up on me now you hunk of junk!!" She shouted she made a sharp turn to get back to the ambush area.

"You need to go faster Faye!" John told her in a nervous voice.

"We don't want to lose him!" She yelled back.

"I don't think we have to worry about that." John replied as his SAW began to bark fire again. Looking in the rearview mirror that had somehow survived she not only saw the Terminator chasing but saw it was gaining!!! They were going over fifty and Terminator was beginning to catch up, and it was doing it at what seemed like a leisurely jog. John hoped by shooting it to slow it down in some way but the effect was the same as before, sparks flew when the bullets hit home but did nothing to slow its progress. Faye shifted gears and they began to pull away. With the danger temporarily over John put down his gun and took out his radio. "Jet, Spike come in. Can either of you hear me? Over."

"Loud and clear John." Jet answered. "Did you manage to find that Terminator?" John looked back at the machine in question that was still chasing them and showed no signs of giving up or slowing down.

"You might say that." He answered.

"Good. Now lead him back here. We'll handle the rest. Just make sure you don't lose him."

"No problem." John answered and clicked the radio off. Faye shook her head.

"We probably couldn't lose this thing if we tried." She put in.

"Tell me about it." John responded. Terminator wasn't gaining any ground but they weren't pulling away from it either. "Just keep it at this speed and we should be okay." Faye didn't respond and kept on driving. When they reached the side street Faye turned down it so sharply that Terminator actually ran past the street, had to slow down and come back. In that time Faye did another ninety-degree turn and shut the car off. If this plan didn't work they'd have no chance to run. Both of them jumped behind their new barricade and took up firing positions, Faye on the hood, John on the trunk. The radio buzzed and John switched it on.

"Hold your fire until he's away from any easy escape routes." Jet's voice said. "We tip this thing off and we'll never get another chance."

"In that case you two better hide." John answered. "If I was in that thing's place I'd be suspicious right about now."

"We're way ahead of ya pal." Jet replied. At that moment Jet and Spike were lying facedown on the roofs of their respective buildings, their weapons ready. "John, when that thing is in position you fire first, that'll be the signal for the rest of us." John didn't reply and snapped off the radio. Ahead of them two glowing red orbs appeared at the entrance to the side street. They stared at them for what seemed like an eternity. They then slowly panned from side to side and then looked skyward, searching the area for any sign of danger. After it was done searching it set its sights back on them and began to walk forward. The most unnerving thing was that they could only see the black shape of the Terminator's form but they could see those eyes clear as day.

The battle had not been going well for Terminator. He had failed to eliminate his targets and had underestimated how heavily armed they were. As a result he had lost all of his camouflage and his only weapons, but with no damage. He had pursued them on foot and they had set up a defensive position on one of the minor streets. A street that, according to his maps, had no outlet. These factors lead to the logical assumption that they were planning an ambush. Before going down the street he scanned the area and the rooftops for any other hostiles. None were detected so he advanced towards his targets.

Watching the Terminator approach both John and Faye had to fight the impulse to fire right off and wait until he got within what John had to decide was the right range.

"Closer, closer." John whispered as Terminator continued forward. "NOW!" He yelled and fired. Hearing the gunfire Spike and Jet stood up and took aim. Jet fired first, aiming for the Terminator's chest. The heavy fifty caliber round hit dead center and knocked the machine onto its back. Ready to follow the move up Spike aimed one of his rockets at the downed robot and fired.

As he approached his targets one of them yelled and fired his weapon. His chest plate was then struck by a large fast moving projectile that had knocked him onto his back. Now aware of attackers his sensors had missed he rescanned the rooftops. With one eye he followed the calculated trajectory of the projectile that had knocked him down and with the other he scanned the other side. He was able to spot a second attacker that was wielding what his databanks identified as rocket launcher and was a greater threat then the first that was armed with a rifle. He also identified the rocket wielder as Spike and the one with the rifle as Jet. Focusing on Spike he calculated the all the factors in the rocket's trajectory and formulated his best course of action before Spike even pressed the trigger. When Spike did fire Terminator rolled to the side and the rocket impacted on the street, throwing chucks of concrete into the air and blasted a crater into the ground.

"Shit!!" Spike cursed as he reached for another rocket.

"How the hell did he do that?" Jet said as he lined up another shot. When the Terminator stood Jet put the crosshairs on the thing's 'temple' and squeezed the trigger. The shot was dead on and Terminator's head snapped to the side. After the briefest of pauses it righted its head and began walking towards Faye and John at a steady, unpanicked pace. In response they began firing their own weapons but had less effect then even Jet was having.

Terminator's first analysis had proved correct, he had been lured into an ambush. Under normal circumstances he would fall back and regroup, but here falling back was not an option. In addition the weapons they were armed with were insufficient to penetrate his chassis and as long as he was careful to avoid being hit directly by the rockets he would be able to terminate all his targets. Spike was again aiming a rocket in his direction and he stopped and faced that direction. The move was unexpected and the others actually stopped firing. As Spike shifted his aim Terminator shifted his posture, readying to throw himself out of the way when Spike did fire. Spike noticed the shift in posture and was able to figure it out immediately what it was doing.

"I need a distraction here!!" Spike yelled at the top of his lungs, no wanting to spoil his aim by reaching for the radio. Terminator heard him but before he could do anything about the others all opened fire at once. The impacts from the grenades and the sniper rifle caused the Terminator to jerk in reaction and the movement gave Spike a clear shot at the thing's chest. "Bang." He said at normal volume as he pressed the firing button. The rocket was on target and struck Terminator, who disappeared in the explosion that completely engulfed it.

"TAKE THAT YOU METAL SON OF A BITCH!!!" John yelled over the roar of the explosion. Faye didn't say anything but grinned wickedly at the column of smoke that rose into the night sky.

"Good job, all of you." Jet said over the radio. "After the fire dies down we'll see if there's anything to salvage."

"Roger that." John responded. He looked over at Faye. "We did it." He said to her, not sounding like he believed himself. "We actually did it." He let out a short laugh. It did sound almost too good to be true.

"Yeah." She finally responded, sounding more relaxed then she had been all night. "That wasn't too hard now was it?" She joked.

"Oh yeah, a real walk in the park." John responded, but smiled.

"I wouldn't get very relaxed if I were you two." Jet radioed. "This isn't over yet. We still need to pay Cyberdyne a visit." Faye and John grew quiet, knowing he was right. Up on the other roof Spike remained silent and lit a cigarette. This fight may be over but Jet was right, they had unfinished business. He was considering how to deal with Cyberdyne when….

"The HELL!?!?!" He heard John shout over the radio and from the street below, giving it a weird echo effect. Looking down he saw something that made his jaw drop and the cigarette fall to the ground. The Terminator was slowly walking out of the quickly clearing smoke cloud. Smoke still rose from his chest and Spike could see a large blackened dent but no evidence of penetration.

"Faye!! John!! Get the hell out of there!! We'll try to hold it off."

"No!" Faye responded.

"WHAT!?!?" John, Spike and Jet yelled at the same time.

"I'm not running!! It's him or us!!" She checked her weapon and saw she had five grenades left. She looked over at John, who after a moment nodded and loaded the last magazine he had.

"She's right." He told the others. "Running is useless. We'll settle this right now." He cocked the weapon and took aim.

"Thanks." Faye told him. She was trying to sound calm but she was holding the grips of her weapon so tightly that her knuckles had turned bone white. Both began to fire, Faye taking carefully aimed shots while John held the trigger firing one constant stream of bullets.

"Damn fools!" Jet said but aimed his rifle. The Terminator was still moving slowly. They must have done some kind of damage to its internal systems. Faye and John's barrage slowed it further but it wouldn't be long before it reached them. He fired round after round but while they caused the Terminator to stumble it didn't stop. As he emptied the last of his clips frustration began to mount. [This thing has to have a weak point somewhere. But were the hell is it?!] As the thing moved it made a slight whirring sound and that gave Jet an idea. Putting the crosshairs on one of the thing's elbows he took careful aim and fired. The bullet tore through the thinner metal of the joint and ripped the entire lower arm off. _That_ the Terminator noticed, looking up at Jet with what he could swear was an angry look in his eyes. They had finally found the chink in his armor. "Spike!" He yelled into the radio. "Aim for the joints. That's the only way you can hurt this thing!!"

"Gotcha." Spike responded. He had just the joint in mind. He aimed his second to last rocket at the connection at the base of the thing's spine and hips. He fired and again his aim was dead on. The explosion threw the top part of its body straight up and Spike swore he saw the thing turn its head in his direction, locking eyes with him before falling back to the ground. When it landed it used its one good arm to drag itself towards Faye and John.

"Doesn't this thing ever give up?!" Faye asked as she fired her last grenade that missed and exploded behind what was left of the Terminator. The shattered robot paid the explosion no mind and continued to drag itself forward.

"You two better duck." Spike said over the radio. They looked up and saw Spike aiming his final rocket and did as they were told.

"Last chance Spike." Jet told him. "Make it count." Spike didn't respond and continued aiming. When he was sure he couldn't miss he let the final rocket fly. The rocket struck the downed robot that again disappeared in the explosion. Behind the car Faye and John covered their heads as the ground shook and the heat from the explosion reached them. They heard things striking the car then heard one loud clang.

"You guys can come out now." Spike told them in a calm voice. "It's not moving." Cautiously they looked over the car and saw another column of smoke.

"You sure it's dead?" John asked, remembering what had happened last time.

"Look at the door and see for yourself." Spike answered. Confused both looked down at the door and jumped back when they saw what was there. Almost bursting out of the door was a perfect impression of the Terminator's skull, its mouth open making it look like it was screaming. When Spike had fired the last rocket he aimed for the Terminator's neck. The resulting explosion had sent the skull hurtling through the first door and into the second, stamping out a perfect likeness in it but not going through. Spike and Jet climbed down and joined the others.

"So what do we do with it?" Faye asked.

"We take it back to Ed. See if she can pick this thing's brain." Jet answered.

"I'll get it." John said. Picking up the SAW he struck the skull impression with the butt of the weapon. Looking in the car he found the skull still wedged in tight. "This might take a minute." The sound of sirens told them that it was a minute they didn't have.

"Give me that!" Faye said, grabbing the SAW from John. She struck the skull as hard as she could and it popped right out. "Thanks." She said, tossing the weapon back to him. John looked dumbfounded and Jet and Spike smirked at the expression. The skull landed on the driver's seat and seemed to look up at them. Its eyes were dark and it wasn't moving. When nobody made a move to grab it Jet scowled.

"Guess I'll have to carry it." He said. He reached down and picked it up with his artificial hand, just in case it decided to snap at him. "Let's go." He said and the four of them disappeared into the night as the sirens grew closer. They had part of the puzzle now, but they still wouldn't know the whole truth until they went to the source of this robotic nightmare. Cyberdyne itself.


	10. Betrayal

Chapter 10: Betrayal

In the ISSP armory Kyle was watching and listening as Ed brought him up to speed on things. She was going off into a detailed account on how the Terminator's neural net brain worked when his radio tuned to the police band squawked to life.

"All units respond to reports of shots fired." One voice started.

"Heavy weapons may be involved." Another said. "Number of suspects unknown, proceed with extreme caution." More bulletins came through.

"All units be warned, possible involvement of suspect wanted in the Moving Target shootout." That sounded suspicious to Kyle. Only John knew what the Terminator looked like. How could they know?

"Unit twelve reporting multiple explosions in area 539!! Send all available units."

"Guess they started the show." Kyle stated and turned the radio down. There was nothing on the TV yet and bad news kept on coming over the radio. An ISSP vehicle had been found shot up and reduced to a burning hulk. There was a rumor that an officer had been killed. The only good news was that they didn't name any suspects. "The only thing we can do know now is wait." At his feet Ein let out a loud whine. "Sorry buddy but there's nothing we can do." Ein let out another whine and lied down. Like John Kyle had learned not to ask questions anymore and accepted the fact that Ein seemed to understand everything they said.

"They'll come back." Ed stated confidently. "They always come back."

"I'm sure they will, but it's not going to do us any good to worry about it. Let's get back to business. I think you were talking about the microchip these things use." Ed smiled and brought up the projection of the chip.

"This makes machines very smart." Ed explained. "It lets them learn."

"There has to be more then that. Dogs can learn things to but that just means they associate words with actions." Ein gave him an annoyed growl. "Touchy, isn't he?"

"That's because he didn't like what you said." Ed said cheerfully. "Ein doesn't like it when people say he is dumb." Ein barked in agreement.

"I'm not saying he's dumb. I'm just saying that…." Ein barked again and walked over to Tomato. "Now what's he up to?" In response Ein began pressing keys with his paw and opened a schematic file of the chip. Kyle's eyes widened and his jaw fell. Ed giggled at his reaction and was it his imagination or did Ein actually seem smug? "Just how smart is that mutt!?" He asked.

"Edward can't tell. It's a secret." Ed replied mischievously. She then started looking around to see if anyone was listening, despite the obvious fact no one was. "Can you keep a secret?" She whispered. Kyle was still confused but shrugged.

"What's one more?" He replied. Her answer couldn't be anything stranger then everything else he had heard tonight.

"Ein is a data dog. That means he's very smart." Ed stated.

[So much for not being surprised.] Kyle thought to himself, though it did make sense. Ein understood English perfectly and was smarter then some people he knew. Of course it also illegal, but he was breaking at least a dozen laws by helping John and the others. Then there was the Terminator, no telling how many laws that thing broke. The law had taken a back seat and Kyle decided he might as well go with it. He walked over to Ein and crouched down. "Sorry about the mutt crack. Apology accepted?" He asked and held out his hand. Ein barked then put his paw out, which Kyle shook. "Good. Now that we've got that cleared up." He turned toward Ed. "I've got some questions that…" He was cut off as both Tomato and his own alarm began beeping. Pushing a button Ed opened a window that showed the others approaching the outside door. Going over to his control console he saw the same thing on his monitors. All four of them looked disheveled and tired and Jet was carrying something other then his weapon. Kyle couldn't tell what but he opened the doors and let them in. Opening the office and the blast door the three went out to meet them.

"We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!!!" John said triumphantly before anyone else could say anything.

"Looks like you had a hell of a time doing it." Kyle responded.

"You don't know the half of it." Jet put in.

"Not exactly what you expected?" Kyle asked.

"I think the fact that three of us are out of ammunition says everything." Spike answered.

"That reminds me." John said. He tossed the SAW to Kyle. "Two words. Completely useless."

"You're the one who chose it." Kyle reminded him. "Anyone else want a trade in?"

"I think we're through with this stuff." Jet said as he unslung his own weapon. "None of them had that much effect unless we aimed for the weakest point, and I doubt we're going to get another chance like we did tonight, with everything going in our favor."

"Speak for yourself." Faye said, brandishing her grenade launcher. "This was able to slow it down and I'm keeping it." She headed towards the ammunition room to reload.

"If you say so." Kyle said as he took Jet's weapon. "So you guys manage to find out anything new?"

"Yeah, that we need a howitzer to even make a dent in it." Faye's voice answered sarcastically from the ammo room.

"Sorry but I'm fresh out of howitzers." Kyle responded as they put the weapons back.

"Actually we do need another favor." Jet said.

"What's that?" Kyle asked, not really wanting to hear what it was.

"We're going to pay Cyberdyne a visit and if they are the ones that made that Terminator we're going to have to make sure they can't make another."

"I get it." Kyle said in understanding. "What do you need?"

"How much of that C4 do you have?" Spike asked.

"About three hundred pounds." Kyle answered. The others looked at him like he had grown another head. "What?"

"You said you had some C4." John told him. "Three hundred pounds isn't what I'd call some." Kyle shrugged.

"When the average take is over five hundred pounds per bust three hundred isn't that much." The others still looked at him like he was a maniac, except for Spike, who started to grin.

"We'll take all of it." He said. Now everyone looked at him like he was nuts. "Better safe then sorry."

"Guess we can't argue with that." John sighed. "Let's start loading it up."

"You've got transportation?" Kyle asked.

"We, borrowed, a van on our way back here." John told him. "Something that wouldn't be missed."

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised." Kyle said. "Lets get moving."

"Before I forget." Jet spoke up. "We've got something for Ed to look at."

"You brought Ed a souvenir?" Ed asked excitedly.

"Something like that." Jet told her. He brought out the Terminator skull. Ein growled and Kyle gave the skull a suspicious look but Ed's eyes lit up.

"WOW!" She squealed and grabbed the skull out of Jet's hands. "This is for Ed?" She asked as she examined it.

"That's right." Jet told her. "We want you to take a look at this thing's memory and see if there's anything useful. But not until we get everything ready, we're going to want to see what's in there."

While they were preparing for their 'visit' to Cyberdyne the side street where they had destroyed the Terminator had been cordoned off by police. In addition to the officers milling around the area there were also several men in dark suits overseeing their actions. Slowly they scoured the entire area, picking up pieces of the shattered machine. All of the cops were on the Dragons' payroll of course but the destruction of one of their most secret projects prompted the elders to send members of their personal guard to make sure no evidence of the Terminator's existence was found. In a black car across the street Vicious observed the clean up. He saw one officer pick up and examine a metallic arm before handing it over to one of the suits who then put it in a waiting armored car.

"Radical Edward has put the information we gave him to very good use." Vicious remarked as several officers struggled to lift the torso section and carry it over to the armored car. "Wire a transfer to him at once. The five million Woolong bounty we posted should be sufficient. Make sure to monitor the account, once he accepts it we should be able to track him down." The driver of the car nodded, not bothering to ask questions. It was well known how Vicious repaid loyalty, especially if you might become an inconvenience later. Whether they would kill Radical Edward or just keep him under surveillance until he became useful again was something only Vicious knew. "Drive." He ordered. The driver started the engine but his hand went up to the ear radio he was wearing. "What is it?"

"There might be a problem." The driver replied.

"For us or for them?" Vicious asked. To have something go wrong now would jeopardize his plan.

"For them. It looks like they can't find the head."

"Interesting." Vicious said, a shadow of a smile on his face. "It appears they had the foresight to take it with them. The secrets they learn from it should be very intriguing."

"Do we proceed with Cyberdyne?" The driver asked.

"No. They no doubt know about Cyberdyne's connection with this so we'll let them have their turn first. If they fail we may have take care of this ourselves. Back to headquarters. Those corpses will want to question anyone that might be involved in this." The diver said nothing and obeyed.

Back at the armory the adults finished loading the bricks of C4 into the van and in addition each of them took several grenades. The Bebop crew stuffed them into their pockets while John and Kyle attached them to their vests. Meanwhile Ed was trying to hook up the skull to Tomato but had run into problems. The skull had no external ports to plug into and while she had found what looked like an access panel it had proved almost impossible to remove. She tired prying it open with he fingers, banging the skull onto the floor as hard as she could, none of it worked. Finally out of desperation she tried biting it. The only thing she succeeded in doing was hurting her teeth, dropping the skull and grabbing her mouth to make sure they were all there and in one piece. The skull landed right side up and with its permanent smile seemed to be laughing at Ed. The frustration finally wearing away even her patience she kicked the skull with all her strength, and nailed John right in the forehead as he entered the office. The impact knocked him flat on his back and almost made him bowl over the others behind him. Off to the side they saw the skull spinning and it slowly spun to a stop. John was still lying on back with his eyes closed, apparently unconscious. Before the others could do anything Ed and Ein came running out of the office. Ed jumped onto John's stomach and if he wasn't awake before he was now, letting out a loud 'oomph!' and sitting up slightly.

"What….?" Was as far as he got before Ed had him in a bear hug of surprising strength. "GAAAAK!"

"Edward is sorry. Didn't mean to hurt John person! Glad to see he's ok."

"He's not going to be ok for long if you keep squeezing him like that." Spike said. Ed looked up and saw John turning a bright shade of red from lack of air. She let go of him and he fell back to the floor.

"Oops. Sorry." She said and smiled sheepishly. John groaned, closed his eyes and put his hand over the quickly growing bruise on his forehead.

"I thought we were friends Ed." John said in a joking fashion that told the others he wasn't angry.

"Not Ed's fault." Ed protested. "Mean skull wouldn't open up for Edward, so Edward kicked it."

"And with great aim I might add." Kyle said as he picked up the skull. John snarled at the remark and to everyone's surprise Ein did the same. "Boy you'd think a data dog would have a sense of humor."

"Maybe he just knows who his friends are." John replied. Ein barked in agreement. Kyle shrugged and began to examine the skull and found the panel that Ed had been struggling with. Taking out a pocketknife he extended the blade and used it to pry at the panel, having slightly more success then Ed.

"Looks like you managed to loosen it up John, thanks." Kyle said.

"No problem." John replied, still not moving or even opening his eyes. Ein walked over and licked his hand. "Nice to see everyone so worried about my wellbeing." He said as he finally sat up. "So far only Ed and Ein were concerned if I was hurt or not."

"That reminds me." Kyle said as he continued to pry. "You didn't seem that surprised that our furry little friend here is a data dog."

"After hanging around these guys nothing surprises me anymore." John answered as he scratched Ein behind the ears. "Besides he's better company then most people I know." The others laughed but Kyle's face remained blank.

"Funny." He grumbled. With a snap the panel flew off the skull. "Got it. Damn!" The last statement was in response to the fact that even though he had opened it his knife was now bent almost ninety degrees.

"Now let's see what this thing has to tell us." Jet said as he took the skull and tossed it to Ed. They went into the office and Ed set the skull next to Tomato, and started to hook it up when Kyle's radio came to life.

"Base calling post three. Base calling post three. Come in post three. Kyle you there? Over." Kyle motioned for the others to be quiet before picking up the mike.

"This is post three base. I'm here."

"Good." The voice on the other end sounded relieved. "Weird stuff has been going on and we need to know how widespread it is."

"Well everything has been quiet here base." Kyle lied. "What's the situation?"

"If you don't know about it you're better off." The voice responded. "But they are going to have to send a few guys over for a statement." The five of them exchanged glances, all knowing that they had been found out. Kyle removed the gun from his holster. "Just a routine thing, you should…" He didn't get any farther as Kyle smashed the radio with the butt of the gun.

"That's our cue to leave." Spike said as they went into action. Jet grabbed the Terminator skull while John picked up Ed who maintained a death grip on Tomato and Kyle picked Ein up by the scruff of his neck. With Spike and Faye covering they made their way to the van. Jet and Spike got into the front seats while the others piled into the back. Jet started the engine and drove at regular speed away from the armory, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. They all tensed up as the sound of sirens approached them, but the cruisers that they saw approaching passed by them without a second glance.

"Well what do we do now?" John asked.

"For now we find someplace to hide until things have calmed down a little." Jet answered. "Once there aren't so many cops on the street we'll go to Cyberdyne as planned."

"You have someplace in mind?" Spike asked.

"Yep." Was all Jet said.

As they made their way towards Jet's mystery location Vicious was entering the elder's chamber. He had expected them to be furious when they received the news that their new toy had been blown to scrap but they seemed almost relaxed.

"We have received some very distressing news." Wang Long started.

"Several hours ago there were attacks on two of our facilities by unknown forces, and very valuable information was stolen from our data banks by a hacker." Ping Long continued

"And no more then twenty minutes ago our newest agent was killed." Sou Long finished. "A most interesting string of events."

"Very interesting." Vicious said, almost sounding bored. "But what does this have to do with me?"

"There have been rumors that you were somehow involved in these events." Wang Long said. Vicious kept his face impassive. "But there were no survivors at the first facility and it is claimed that you were not seen at the second." Keeping that second scientist alive had proven to be a wise choice. "And we can not tell who was truly responsible for the data theft." Vicious understood what they were saying. Even though he had covered his tracks completely they were still sure he had somehow been involved in all this.

"And you want me to investigate these attacks?" Vicious asked, the arrogance in his voice evident. Instead of being angry the elders actually smiled.

"These events have already been investigated." Ping Long said. "And a decision has already been made."

"We know who is responsible for the death of our agent." Sou Long continued. "What must be done now is to seek them out and destroy them. You have already made your stance on our new agents so you will not be trusted with this delicate assignment." Now Vicious was becoming angry.

"So why was I summoned if I'm not to take part?" He asked.

"Because we thought you should see who has been entrusted with this." Wang Long said and motioned for someone to step forward. Vicious became truly angry when he saw who it was. Five large men stepped out of the shadows, all dressed in black combat gear. There were slight variations in the face and hair but the blank expressions, the alert but dead eyes, the way all of them had the exact same posture, all pointed to one thing. These weren't some special forces team that had been cobbled together, they were Terminators. The elders were so sure he knew the truth about the project that they were trying to trap him. He wasn't about to give them the satisfaction.

"One genetic monstrosity fails so you think five more will succeed?" He asked.

"We are quite sure of it." Sou Long answered. "With these agents and the right information in the right places it will not be long until the last of the true threats are eliminated." He turned toward the squad of Terminators. "You will begin your mission immediately. Proceed as ordered." The five machines turned and marched out of the room in perfect unison. Vicious glared after them.

"You disapprove?" Wang Long asked.

"If one artificial soldier failed others are destined to fail in the same way." He told them, still not giving anything away.

"So you say." Ping Long replied. "It would be wise if you stop trying to interfere in matters that you know nothing about." Vicious narrowed his eyes but said nothing, knowing it would be what they wanted.

"Is there anything else?" Vicious asked.

"You are permitted to leave." Wang Long answered. Vicious turned and walked out. He knew there would be more then one of those machines but the corpses had hidden their location too well. Even he didn't know how to fight five of them at once, and moving against Cyberdyne with suspicions against him growing was not an option. Things were beginning to slip from his control; he couldn't even send the new information to Radical Edward to relay it, anything he did would be closely monitored. He could only watch and see what Spike and his group could do.

While Vicious was plotting his next move the group in question was gathered in the back room of a pawnshop with a TV tuned to the news and Ed hooking Tomato to the Terminator's skull. When they had first arrived Joe had been a bit hesitant about hiding a known fugitive, but the promise of money had quickly changed his mind. The fugitive in question was now watching the TV and holding an icepack to his forehead.

"So how's your head?" Faye asked rhetorically.

"Just great." John answered sarcastically.

"Guess that would be divine justice." Jet spoke up. John gave him a quizzical look. "You getting hit with that skull is payback for clobbering me with that bedpan."

"That was an accident!" John protested.

"So was that." Jet replied, pointing at John's bruised forehead. "What goes around comes around." John grumbled something about 'philosophy garbage' before turning his attention back to the TV.

"Edward is ready!" Ed announced as she inserted the last cable. The others quickly gathered around. Once her audience was gathered Ed pressed a button and activated the connection.

"Scanning." MPU said. "Access established." He announced after a few minutes. No sooner had he said that then things began to go wrong. The screen got very dim and static drowned out most of what MPU was saying. "Ed…" bzzzzzt "invading….." bzzzzzzzzztttttt "can't stop….." bzzzzzzt

"MPU!!" Ed cried and began to frantically type.

"What is it?! What the hell is going on?!?!" Faye yelled.

"Oh shit!! Look!!" John pointed at the skull on the floor. Before its eyes were dark but now they had a slight glow to them.

"He's drawing energy from the battery." Jet looked from the skull back to Tomato. "It's trying to download itself!" The realization hit them hard, no one expected the AI to still be active let alone be this aggressive if given a chance.

"The hell it is!" Kyle said and reached for the skull. When his hand was almost to it the skull actually shot him with an electrical charge that knocked him to the ground. "DAMN IT!!!!" He yelled as he clutched his still stinging arm that was quickly going numb. The other four took out their guns and aimed them at the motionless skull when its eyes abruptly went dark again.

"What happened? Did Ed stop it?" John asked. A moan from Ed gave him his answer.

"Wrong, wrong all wrong. Ed can't find MPU." She groaned as she searched her files. She didn't get far before one of her own smiley faces popped up on the screen. "Huh?" She said in confusion. That was not a good sign. If Ed didn't know what was going on with her own computer it had to be bad, and sure enough it began to get worse. The smiley face, what looked like a yellow childish drawing with a grin that took up most of the face with its eyes shut, began to warp. First the color changed, from a bright yellow it slowly turned a shade of gray. Its features began to shift, instead of a flat looking drawing it began to stretch and take shape into a 3D projection of a human head. It didn't stop there, it began to become more detailed. Its grin shrunk from its enormous size to a normal sized one. Only instead of being bright and cheerful this smile was cold and menacing. Finally its eyes, which had remained shut, opened, revealing a pair of glowing red orbs. All of them, even Ed, sat in silence as they watched the harmless picture Ed always used warp into an exact duplicate of a Terminator skull. As they watched in stunned silence the skull looked around itself, observing its new surroundings. Finally it looked straight at the group. That was weird, but what was weirder was that it seemed to recognize them. And it was not happy to see them. Giving an inhuman yell it seemed to charge right at them, and thanks to Ed's monitor it was able to project a partial hologram that gave the illusion it was coming through the screen, causing everyone, even Ed, to jump back from it. The hologram disintegrated and the skull that represented the Terminator's AI vanished, leaving the screen blank. A second later red lines of code began to scroll by at a rapid rate. Occasionally a section of green code came up but they turned red and rearranged themselves. Ed went into action and began to rapidly type.

"I don't get it. What's happening?" Kyle asked. Feeling starting to come back into his arm and he focused his attention on Tomato's screen.

"That thing's AI is acting like a virus. It's spreading through her files and taking them over." Jet answered. Knowing a bit more about computers then the others he could recognize what was going on. The others became quiet, knowing the only thing they could do was watch. As Ed continued to type the scrolling red code lines slowed from several lines a second to single letters at a very slow pace. Slowly the lines of red code were replaced with the original green code. Another inhuman scream came from Tomato and the AI skull reappeared on the screen. It looked right at Ed and gave what sounded like the growl of a wounded animal. A large, extremely angry, wounded animal. Ed put on her netdiving goggles and growled right back at it.

"You hurt MPU! Ed won't let you get away with it!" Ed told the AI which seemed to snarl at her in response. That snarl quickly vanished as Ed began typing faster and it seemed to convulse in pain. Behind him the red lines of code, his programming, was being deleted and replaced. The AI construct seemed to concentrate and the red code lines again began to over take Ed's. "Skull head might be smart but Edward is smarter." She told the thing and began typing at what seemed like an inhuman rate. The red code began disappearing at a faster pace and the AI skull began to snap itself from side to side, it's inhuman voice screaming in agony. In a fit of anger it tried again to counter Ed's programming that made the screen flicker and crackle with static, its animal like growl louder then ever. Ed again was able to counter and parts of the AI's skull began to break away as Ed began to delete its core programming. In a final act of desperation the skull disappeared from the screen. Next to Tomato the eyes of the real skull had again begun to glow red.

"He's making a run for it." Spike said, pointing at the skull. Ed broke into a devilish grin.

"Wherever he goes Ed will follow." She promised and continued typing. The screen changed to a red tint and the AI skull appeared out of nowhere. Letting out another yell, this one of fear, the AI skull turned and began to run, ducking into doors that represented different files. Every time it tried to hide Ed made the door disintegrate in a shower of pixels and it would flee to another. Its attempts to escape began to get more frantic as its files were opened. "You can run but cannot hide from Ed." She told it and pressed one last button. The AI skull stopped moving and began to thrash from side to side, yelling in pain. Rapidly it began to turn back into the smiley face it had been before the Terminator AI had taken it over. As the last of the AI skull faded to nothing it let out an ear piercing metallic shriek, one that was echoed from the real skull and was so loud that they had to cover their ears. Once the screeching subsided they looked at Tomato's screen and saw it was occupied by the smiley face with the large grin that let out a childish laugh. The adults were stunned silent. Ed had just done the impossible; she had out thought a thinking machine.

"Nice work Ed." John said, giving her a pat on the back.

"If I hadn't seen it I never would have believed it." Kyle said. Other people were less then happy with what happened.

"Hey! What the hell is going on back there!?! I can barely hear my TV!!" Joe's voice said from out front.

"So turn up the volume!!" Jet shot back. Joe didn't respond but they knew what he was probably mumbling under his breath. A burst of static from Tomato focused their attention back to it.

"Ed?" Said MPU's confused voice.

"Welcome back MPU." Ed greeted. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Yes I am." MPU replied as he became more aware of what was happening. "I must apologize for not being able to stop the intruder. I put all of you at risk."

"Not your fault MPU." Ed told him.

"That's right." John agreed. "You couldn't know that the AI was still active. None of us did."

"I understand." MPU answered.

"Now that the excitement is over I think we should get back to the reason we did this in the first place." Jet said putting them back on track. "Let's see what this Terminator has to show us."

"Very well." MPU replied. "I'm afraid there is a problem." He said after a few minutes of searching.

"What kind of problem?" Faye asked, not wanting anymore surprises.

"It appears that Ed's pursuit of the intruding AI has resulted in the destruction of the files in the Terminator's data banks." Jet sighed and Faye let out a frustrated groan. Spike gave an indifferent shrug.

"Guess Edward made a little mistake." Ed said sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry." Faye was about to make a remark but John cut her off.

"Don't be." John said. "If you didn't do what you did that AI would have taken over and we would all be in deep trouble."

"So what now?" Kyle asked.

"We go to Cyberdyne. They're the only ones left that have any information about these things." Jet said.

"And what about this?" John asked, pointing at the skull.

"It's useless now so we might as well just toss it into a sewer." Spike suggested.

"So we're going to Cyberdyne with no information about what might be there." Faye said. "Isn't there anything that'll go our way?" In what seemed to be a response to her question from the TV came the familiar combination of a horn and banjos signaling the start of Big Shot.

"Hey amigos, this is Big Shot." Punch started.

"The guide to the biggest bounties in the solar system." Judy finished.

"Well amigos we got a bunch of big bounties today." Punch stated. "First up we got a five million Woolong bounty on this desperado." A photo of the Terminator from the shootout at the Blue Snakes building appeared on screen. "What's really strange is pictures are all we have of this guy. No age, no birth planet, not even a name."

"A mystery man." Judy said excitedly. "What's he wanted for sugar?"

"This guy is wanted for being muy brave or muy loco. He walked into a building full of armed men then blew it up. As you can see he is one stupid but tough bandito." They played the footage of Vega shooting the Terminator twice and the Terminator not reacting.

"I guess even we can catch a break every once in a while." Spike remarked, slightly amused.

"Who would have thought?" Faye added. Punch finished talking about the Terminator bounty and they turned their attention back to the TV.

"The other bounties we have today are brand new and Big Shot is the first to let you know about them." Punch said. They all watched with interest but that interest turned to shock as pictures of them started appearing on the screen. Pictures of Spike, Jet and Faye appeared at the top of the screen while John and Kyle's appeared at the bottom. "These five are a gang that the police say are very dangerous terrorists. They had their eyes on these three," The top three pictures were highlighted. "ever since they decided to shoot up the town a few months back." They played stock footage of the disastrous vehicle pursuit of the Predator, complete with Faye crashing into a crowded street and Jet sinking into the bay. "They thought they were acting pretty strange and they were right on the money."

"But what about these two sugar?" Judy asked. The bottom two pictures became highlighted. "They don't look like the kind of people to hang out with those three villains."

"Afraid it's true Judy. Don't know why these two officers of the law decided to switch sides but that's what they did. We do know that they broke into an ISSP armory then killed a police detective."

"Oh dear no!!" Judy exclaimed.

"It's sad but it's true. They cornered the poor detective and this is what happened." A picture was shown of a burned out, bullet riddled police cruiser. "The detective's name isn't being released because the suspects are still loose, so lets help track down these bastards." Faye's eye began to twitch and Kyle started to reach for his gun.

"Easy now." Jet warned. The others didn't acknowledge but they didn't do anything either.

"The bounty for each one of them is ten million. If you manage to catch all five of them there is a twenty million Woolong bonus."

"A big pay off for a bad bunch of people." Judy said. "Good luck all you cowboys out there and happy hunting." Jet expected everyone to explode but John calmly walked over and turned the TV off. Turning around he stood calmly, surprising everyone. It didn't last long. After about two seconds John whirled around, grabbed the TV, ripped it from the wall, and with a yell of rage threw it across the room where it was smashed into dozens of pieces.

"Feel better?" Faye asked, knowing just how he felt.

"Much." John answered. They all smirked at the remark but Spike addressed the immediate concern.

"Jet, how trustworthy is you friend?"

"He'd sell out his own mother." Jet replied. Knowing what was about to happen they took up positions. The door to the room opened inward and Jet stood in position so when the door was opened he would be behind it. Spike stood on the other side right next to the door. It must have taken some time for Joe to work up the courage to do this because it was a few minutes before they heard footsteps coming their way. The door flew open and they saw Joe standing there holding a double-barreled shotgun.

"All right, FREEZE!!" He managed to say before Spike reached over and took the weapon out of his hand.

"Thanks." Spike said calmly before Joe had a chance to react. When the door had swung open Jet had caught it and when he heard the signal gave the door a hard shove so it swung back and hit Joe with a loud crunch. The door slowly swung back open revealing Joe, who was still standing and clutching his now bleeding nose.

"By node!! Euu broke by node!!" He said in a stunned voice. Seeing her chance to get out some frustration about what she saw on Big Shot Faye walked over and kicked Joe between the legs. Joe tried to yell but all that came out was a high-pitched squeak.

"And your nose doesn't hurt anymore now does it?" Faye said sweetly. The only reply she got was a whimper. "Your turn." She said to Kyle.

"You got it." He replied, smiling. Joe made another pitiful whimper before Kyle hit him with an uppercut that sent him to the floor unconscious.

"Now that everybody has got that out of their system." Jet said, noting the grins the statement brought. All of them felt the same way about the lies that had been spread about them, and they needed to take that aggression out on something and Joe was as good as anything. He looked at the clock on the wall that read 11:00. "Cyberdyne will close in about an hour and sneaking around it'll probably take us that long to get there. So we'd better get moving."

"What about him?" Spike asked, looking at the unconscious Joe.

"Don't worry. I know just what to do." Jet answered. A few minutes later they had Joe tied up and locked in the bathroom. As an added touch Jet made a list of all the illegal things Joe had and where they hidden, and left it on the counter where the cops would be sure to find it when they came to investigate Joe's 'disappearance'. They all piled into the van and Jet headed for Cyberdyne, not really knowing what they would find.


	11. Raid on Cyberdyne

Chapter 11: Raid on Cyberdyne

Getting to Cyberdyne took longer then anticipated. Cops were everywhere and with the bounties on their heads they couldn't risk being seen by anyone, they might turn out to be bounty hunters. When they got there it was well past midnight, and as they approached Spike saw several suspicious looking cars parked about half a block away. As they stopped in the parking lot they went over their plan.

"There are only one or two guards on duty and they'll be sure to recognize us as soon as we get in." Jet explained. "But John and Kyle's uniforms might be able to throw them for a second, so you two will be going in first. Once the coast is clear radio us and we can get in and out before they even know we're there."

"They might already know that we're here." Spike said. Everyone turned their attention to him. "Remember those black cars we passed on the way here?" The others nodded. "Why would they park in the middle of a block?"

"So you're thinking that this might be an ambush?" Jet asked. Spike nodded. "I was beginning to think that to. This place seems awfully quiet, and you'd expect to see a small army guarding the building."

"Maybe they do and we don't know it." Spike said.

"So that leaves us with two choices. Either we go through with this without knowing who's in there or how many. Or we leave and try this another time."

"We probably won't get another chance at this." Spike said. "Between the bounty hunters and the Dragons we won't be able to get within a mile of this place."

"Anyone think we should back out?" Jet asked.

"Not a chance." Faye spoke up. "We've come this far so we might as well go all the way."

"I'm sure as hell not ready to quit yet." John said.

"Same here." Kyle seconded.

"Then let's get this thing moving." Jet said. Kyle and John nodded then got out of the van. They walked up to the mostly glass front of the building and looked inside, they saw a single security guard at a desk. John pushed on the door and it opened with no resistance.

"Now there's a good sign." John said in a low voice.

"Very good." Kyle replied, also in a low voice. Both of them put their hands on their sidearms but did not draw them and entered the building.

"Excuse me!" John shouted to the guard. Kyle grimaced but said nothing. "We got news that there might be some trouble here so they sent us to give you guys a hand." The guard had been warned there would be some sort of trouble and he was expecting backup but not from regular cops. These two that had just walked in must have heard it through the grapevine and were looking to score points.

"Assignment of new security personal requires two forms of authorization." The guard replied. It was a standard reply and it always worked. Even if these two weren't bluffing they would have only one form of authorization. But instead of looking deflated and turning around the two kept walking towards him and drew their weapons.

"Here's one." John said, aiming his weapon.

"And here's the other." Kyle finished, drawing back the hammer of his Magnum. The guard looked at the two armed men that were holding him at gunpoint and then glanced down at the alarm button. He decided that his employers weren't paying him enough to die and slowly raised his hands.

"Smart move." John said, taking the guards and cuffing him with his own pair of handcuffs. "Check the rooms." He told Kyle. In the lobby, on opposite sides of the desk, there were two restrooms. Kyle went into the women's room and began to search it. He wasn't nervous about searching a woman's bathroom, he had done that before when clearing a building. When he found it empty he walked over to the men's room door and stopped, a feeling in the back of his head told him something was wrong. He had learned to trust his hunches so he stood to the side of the door, weapon ready.

"Got any good magazines in there?" He called out. His instincts had saved him as bullets started to punch holes in the door. John dove under the desk but the first guard was not so lucky. He was too slow to react and was struck twice in the chest. He fell to the floor and did not move. From inside the room Kyle heard frantic yelling.

"WE HAVE MULTIPLE INTRUDERS!!" The voice yelled. "THEY'RE BOTH COPS! SEND BACK UP NOW!!!"

"SHIT!!!" Kyle and John both cursed at the same time. John went for his radio and Kyle waited for the firing to stop. It did and he heard the distinctive clatter of a magazine being dropped from its gun. Positioning himself in front of the bullet riddled door he kicked it as hard as he could. Already weakened the door broke from its hinges and fell to the floor. Inside he saw another guard fumbling to pull back the slide of his automatic pistol.

"FREEZE!!" Kyle shouted at the man. The man ignored the command and managed to work the slide all the way back, chambering a round. "I said DON'T MOVE!!" Kyle yelled. Again his order went unheeded and the man raised his gun. Kyle didn't hesitate and pulled the trigger. It had been a long time since he had fired a Magnum and he had forgotten how powerful the recoil could be, it was so strong the gun almost hit him in the face. The other guy faired far worse. Being hit from such a powerful gun at close range had literally lifted the man off his feet and thrown him backwards. The .44 Rhino slug had passed through his chest and exploded out his back, continuing on its course and punching a hole in the far wall. How far it would keep going was anyone's guess.

While Kyle was dealing with the second guard John took out his radio and snapped it on.

"They know we're here!!" He yelled into it. In the van no sooner had he spoken those words then in the rearview mirror Jet saw the lights of those mystery cars come on. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see what was about to happen and Jet reacted instantly, putting the gas pedal to the floor.

"Hold on!" He told the others. The van shot forward and plowed through the glass front of the building. Turing the wheel he did a ninety-degree turn, putting the sliding door facing the inside of the building. "Everybody out!!" He ordered. Faye opened the slider and jumped out followed by Ed. Grabbing her grenade launcher she went to the hood of the vehicle, almost running into Spike who was diving out the passenger side door, a second later followed by Jet. Setting the launcher onto the hood she took aim and fired at the lead car. The shot fell short and exploded in front of the car but it was enough to make it screech to a halt. Adjusting her aim she fired as it started to move backwards, tires squealing. The shot went through the windshield and exploded inside the vehicle. The other cars stopped and men began to get out of them. They were all carrying assault rifles and all of them were wearing Red Dragon uniforms. Faye fired again and destroyed a second car but the men began to spread out, making well over a dozen small targets instead of several large ones. One grenade for one man would be a waste of ammo, both Faye and the Dragons knew it. Slowly the Dragons began to advance, opening fire with their assault guns, causing Faye to duck.

"So now what?!?" John yelled over the din.

"We stick to the plan!" Spike yelled back. "Ed, GO!!" Ed scrambled over to the desk John was using for cover and began typing at the computer that was there.

"Plan? What plan?" John asked.

"The plan we made up while Faye Faye was looking for you." Ed answered. John gave her a curious look and was about to say something when a klaxon began to blare over the loud speakers.

"This was you great plan, let everyone know we're here?!?" John shouted over the klaxon.

"Nope." Ed told him simply. "That's great plan!" She declared and pointed to the ceiling. John looked at what she was and saw a heavy sheet of metal being lowered to the floor at roughly the same spot as where the glass wall had been. The Dragons noticed it to and began to run forward, trying to get under it before it closed. A few did manage to roll under it and were quickly shot by Spike and Jet. The metal sheet closed with a loud booming sound and the klaxon became silent. Kyle, John and Faye exchanged confused glances before Kyle finally spoke up.

"Ok I give up. How did you do that?" He asked.

"When Ed hacked into Cyberdyne's computers we didn't find anything about the Terminators but what we did find is this building's security measures." He pointed to the metal wall. "Right now that's happening to every door and window leading to the outside. Pretty elaborate, not to mention expensive, security measures for a company that was bankrupt and had nothing but failures under its belt. With those things down no one can get in."

"And we're stuck with whoever's inside here already." Faye said.

"Well let's see where everybody else is. Ed?" Jet prompted. Ed activated the security cameras and on the display they saw most of the floors were empty but they also saw several squares that were nothing but static, indicating the cameras had been knocked out. Ed typed a few commands and they saw that all the cameras on the fifth floor were down.

"Looks like we've got some unexpected company." Spike stated.

"You'd better check it out." Jet told him. "Kyle, go with him. Take Ein with you to, he'll be able to tell of there are any Terminators up there or not. If there are get back down here." Spike and Kyle nodded but before they could go anywhere a voice came from the man Kyle had killed.

"Team two to post one, answer damn it! We can't get inside. What is the situation with the intruders? Damn!" The voice cursed again when no one answered and the radio degraded into static.

"You know I thought he was just an ordinary guard in the wrong place at the wrong time. Guess now I don't need to feel bad about having to kill that guy." Kyle said. Spike shrugged and they headed towards the stairs, the elevator would be too obvious, with Ein following them.

"So what do we do?" John asked when the two had left.

"We hold the fort, let Ed try to find anything we can use." Jet told them motioning to Ed who was hooking up Tomato to the guard's computer.

"How long do we have until they get through?" Faye asked, casting a suspicious glance at the metal wall.

"Depends. If they go at it the usual way, trying to cut through with torches or knock the wall down, it'll take at least an hour. They try unconventional it could take them only two minutes." Jet answered.

"I'm going to regret this but what is unconventional?" John asked.

"They try and blast us out." Jet replied. "We need to hope that whatever's in here is too valuable for them to try it."

Outside the building the Dragons were searching for a way in and setting up a perimeter. They had been assured that the police would be kept out this but they needed to keep nosy civilians at bay. When they tried to contact the insider they had there was no response.

"Idiot." Snarled the thug that had tried to make contact. Knowing that he couldn't restore contact with the guard he switched the radio frequency. "Team two to team three. Do you copy team three?"

"Affirmative team two." Came an answer over the radio. "We are aware of the situation. What are our orders?"

"At least something's going right." The thug mumbled. In a louder voice he said. "Your orders are to hold your position, they'll work their way up to you."

"Understood." Came the reply. The thug switched frequencies again, to one that he was told to contact only in such a situation.

"This is team two calling team one." High above the city a black craft that resembled an APC slowly patrolled the sky. There were many places that might be attacked and squads had been sent to all of them but this team had been too valuable to keep in one place so they had been ordered to remain mobile so they would be able to respond to any attack. The pilot of the craft reached over and activated the reply function of the radio.

"Do you have conformation?" The pilot said.

"Affirmative." The thug answered. "We have visual conformation at Cyberdyne headquarters."

"Understood. ETA is ten minutes." The pilot replied. "Lock and load back there." Behind him five men who looked almost identical turned towards him in unison. As one four of them chambered a round into the weapons they were carrying. The P90's they held were compact but very powerful, looking futuristic even by modern standards. With their hundred round magazines and a firing rate of nine hundred rounds a minute they were the perfect combination of firepower and concealability. The fifth Terminator had been designated to carry a heavier weapon and had a large metal container strapped to his back that despite its immense weight he was able to handle with ease. Attached to the container was possibly the most deadly anti-infantry gun ever created. Based on the gattling gun design the Minigun the fifth Terminator carried was capable of literally tearing even the most heavily armored foot soldier to shreds. With the safety on he pressed the trigger and the six barrels began to whirl with a loud whining sound. Convinced the gun was in working order he let go of the trigger and when the barrels stopped spinning he flicked the safety off. Each of the Terminators had noted the ETA the pilot had announced. On their present course and speed they would arrive in eight minutes.

Back at Cyberdyne Spike, Kyle and Ein had reached the fifth floor and stood at the doorway leading to it. Fully knowing there would probably be an ambush waiting both drew their weapons and prepared to move. Kicking the door open they moved into the hallway with a standard clearing procedure, Spike covering one end of the hallway, Kyle covering the other. The door didn't explode and they could see no one.

"Looks clear." Kyle remarked.

"Looks can be deceiving." Spike responded. As with most buildings there was a maze like feel to the area around them. Hallways twisted and turned, broke off in different directions and led to rooms that were probably just as confusing. All of this offered dozens of good hiding places and they needed to check all of them. "We could wander around for an hour and not run into anyone else."

"Well we're going to have to start somewhere. That's a good a place as any." Kyle said motioning towards an automatic door that was labeled 'Clean Room'. Spike shrugged and both started to walk towards it. Ein dutifully followed with no objection but as they got closer to it his ears perked up and he became very alert, hearing something that neither Spike or Kyle could hear. As Spike started to reach for the door controls Ein grabbed one of his pant legs with his teeth and began to pull back on it. Normally Spike would have responded with a swift kick and a few choice cures words, but instead he just stopped and looked down at the little dog, who let go of his pants and looked from the door up to him several times. Both humans recognized it as a 'there's someone in their gesture' and if it had been any other dog they would have thought it was just an act of stupidity. With Ein they knew he was serious. Without saying anything Spike took a grenade out of his pocket and waved it. John got the message and took a grenade off his vest. Both pulled the pins, set themselves on opposite sides of the door and Spike reached for door controls.

"You're the distraction." Spike told Ein in the lowest voice he could manage. Even though Kyle was standing only a few feet away he couldn't hear what Spike said but Ein heard him perfectly and went where Spike pointed. With Ein in position Spike pushed the button and the doors hissed open.

Behind the door five Red Dragon operatives waited. They were only part of one of many teams that had been deployed to various locations in response to the threat posed by the group of bounty hunters and those two policemen. In all there was a total of twenty gunmen in this one building, scattered in various places on the fifth floor. The plan was a simple one, by knocking out all the cameras of one floor they would force them to investigate. When they did they would be walking right into a trap, and those two they heard talking were acting just as they should. What the gunmen couldn't have known was that Ein was with them. His ears were good enough to hear them breathing even through the door. That along with his sensitive nose told him that there was danger on the other side. The gunmen, oblivious to this fact, patiently waited for the door to open so they could greet their visitors with a hail of lead. When the door began to open they raised their MP5s, fingers on the trigger and ready to fire. No immediate targets were visible but they knew enough not to open fire with no targets, that was a standard trick. By firing right when the doors opened they would let whoever was out there know someone was waiting. By holding their fire they would lure whoever was on the other side into a false sense of security and they would blindly walk in, giving the gunmen easy targets. Instead of things going according to plan what they saw was a small dog standing the doorway. Not expecting this they lowered the their guard.

"A dog?" One of the gunmen asked. The dog barked and two round objects came through the door and started bouncing their way. With all their attention on the grenades they didn't see Kyle lean out, grab Ein by the collar and yank him out of the doorway. The explosion that followed sent flame and debris flying out into the hallway and shook the building. When the flames died down Spike and Kyle stepped into the room, weapons ready. The room was filled with smoke and several fires were going. As the sound from the blast started to fade they heard loud coughing.

"Contact with hostiles." They heard a voice say, accompanied by a loud coughing fit. "In the clean room, send help." The smoke began to clear and they saw the outline of one of the gunmen speaking into a radio. Spike and Kyle fired at the same time and the gunman went down. Running back into the hallway they looked around and saw more gunmen running towards them, from both sides.

"There they are!! Get em!!!" One of the thugs yelled. Doing the only thing they could they ran back into the stairwell and slammed the door.

"Up or down?" Kyle asked. The thugs answered for them as bullets started ripping through the door. Spike ran down the stairs and Kyle ran up. A second later the thugs broke down the door and saw Spike going into the fourth floor and Kyle going into the sixth.

"Squad three get that cop, he shouldn't be too hard to kill. The rest of you follow me." The leader barked. The group then spilt up, five men going after Kyle and ten going after Spike.

On the main floor Jet watched as Ed got deeper and deeper into Cyberdyne's mainframe, John had gone to fully secure the floor and Faye kept a watchful eye on the metal wall. Right now the Dragons on the outside were trying to cut through with acetylene torches and were nowhere near a breech, yet.

"Good news." John called out as he entered the lobby. "There's no one down here but us and I shut down the elevator, so the only way in or out is the stairs. How're you guys coming along?"

"DAMN IT!!" Jet yelled. He hit the table with his artificial arm so hard it actually cracked, making the once smooth surface look like a piece of broken glass.

"I guess not so good." John said.

"You might say that." Jet growled. "The good news is that we've managed to find out where the Terminators are made and how many there are."

"And the bad news?" Faye asked.

"It's not here." Jet answered. "Cyberdyne is mostly a research facility. They design the hardware and software but construction takes place at another location."

"So we went through all this for nothing! That's great, just great!!" Faye yelled.

"Not quite." Jet broke in. "While they don't actually make the Terminators here they do have all the technical information, and direct links to other facilities including the one where they're constructed."

"So?" Faye asked, not quite getting it.

"It means Edward can take all information and make it disappear." Ed answered.

"And without the ability to make more that will only leave us to deal the Terminator's already built." John said. "That means the only problem….." He was cut off as an explosion from upstairs shook the building. "What the hell was that!?!"

"Spike and Kyle running into trouble." Jet replied, motioning to the security camera screens. They showed Spike and Kyle splitting up and going onto different floors. Jet turned towards John "They're going to need back up. Faye, stay here, we should be back soon." Before they could leave another alarm went off.

"Now what?" John asked, getting tired of all these unwanted surprises.

"Proximity alarm on the roof." Jet told them. "Keeps unauthorized aircraft from dropping in." Turning on the roof camera they saw a black craft whose back opened into a ramp. Down the ramp came five men all dressed in black combat gear. Under current conditions it wouldn't have been that big a concern but when the camera zoomed in on them they saw that all of them were almost completely identical. If that wasn't enough one of the men was wielding a backpack feed machine gun like it weighed nothing. If there was any hope that these five might be human it vanished as one of them went over to the metal slab covering the door that led into the building, grabbed it, and proceeded to rip it off. The construction was sound and the metal strong but there was a considerable amount of give. It would only be a few minutes before they had access to the building.

"Things just keep going from bad to worse." John moaned. Jet let out a sigh and made a decision.

"John, you know how to arm the C4. Do it and set the timer for ten minutes. After he sets it we'll radio Spike and Kyle to make a break for it. We'll try to fight our way to the roof and make an escape, but with just one weapon that will only slow them down I don't know if we can do it."

"Edward can help." Ed spoke up. "Edward has found something that will work on machine men."

"At this point I'm willing to try anything." John said. They looked at Tomato's screen and saw a picture of what looked like a high tech looking assault rifle.

"M-25 phased-plasma pulse gun." Jet read from the screen. "You sure these things are real?" Ed nodded enthusiastically.

"Very real. There're lots of them on the third floor, room 80B. They'll fix machine men real good. ZAP ZAP!!!" She added for emphasis. Jet was a bit skeptical but Cyberdyne had been working on a plasma weapon before they had gone bankrupt and with the Predator technology it seemed like they had been successful. The question was did they really work? Looking at the feed from the roof he saw that the one Terminators had succeeded in tearing the metal away from the door and tossed it aside a piece of cardboard. That made his mind up right there. Quickly reading the instructions on the rifle he turned towards John.

"You follow me." To Faye he said. "You stay here, keep an eye on Ed." Not wasting anymore time he ran towards the stairs, followed by a surprised John.

While John and Jet raced up to the third floor on the sixth the Red Dragon gunmen were finding out Kyle wouldn't be as easy to kill as they thought he would be. When they entered the sixth floor they saw Kyle running down the hallway. To their displeasure they also saw a grenade rolling towards them. Ducking back into the stairwell they were able to avoid the worst of the blast and took no casualties. When they stepped back into the hallway Kyle was nowhere in sight but they knew what direction he had run and headed down that way. Kyle came to a fork in the hallway and turned down one path. Turning a corner he braced himself up against the wall, waiting for them to come.

"There has to be a way out of this! But where the hell is it!?!" He hissed to himself. He got an answer but not the one he expected when he heard a whine at his feet. Looking down he was surprised to see Ein looking back up at him. "Where did you come from?" He said in a voice that he realized too late was too loud.

"Over here! I heard something!" One of the thugs shouted.

"Shit!" Kyle cursed as he heard footsteps approaching. "Come on!" He shouted to Ein and sprinted down the hallway. Taking another turn he came to another long hallway that was a dead end. At the very end of the hallway was a door but he didn't want to become trapped in a room with only one exit. The approaching footfalls didn't give him much of a choice. Running to the end of the hallway he tried the door but it was locked. Knowing he didn't have time to waste he pointed his gun at the door handle and fired. The lock blew off and the door swung open. He rushed in and after making sure Ein was inside with him he slammed the door. Looking around his hopes began to fall. As he feared there were no other exits and the room was filled with desks and computers. He had cornered himself in a damned accounting office. Knowing he had to make due he dragged one of the heavy metal desks over to the door and used it to block the entrance. He flipped another one over and used it as a makeshift barricade. He heard something crash into the door, which shuddered but remained shut.

"Damn!" One of the thugs from the outside cursed. Using that moment of distraction Kyle emptied the rest of his gun through the door. He heard a yell of pain and thought his stunt would convince them to fall back. Instead it had the reverse effect.

"Blast him!" One of the thugs commanded. A second later a hail of gunfire started to punch dozens of holes in the door. Ducking down Kyle opened the gun and ejected the spent cartridges. Grabbing one of his speed loaders he reloaded the gun, snapped it shut and pulled back the hammer. Beside him Ein was lying on the floor trying to get as low as he possibly could in case a lucky shot managed to penetrate the table they were hiding behind. Even with bullets whizzing over his head Kyle had to grin at the fact that Ein, in effect, was ducking. Even his ears were flat, and Kyle guessed if he could Ein would be covering his head with his front paws.

"So, you got any bright ideas on how to get out of here?" He asked Ein. Ein responded with a loud whine. "Didn't think so." He waited for a lull in the firing so he could shoot back again or throw one of his two remaining grenades but to his surprise the shooting stopped completely.

"Who the hell are you?" He heard one of the thugs ask.

"I am from team one." Another voice answered. Kyle started and looked over at the door in shock. Beside him Ein began to growl and his fur began to bristle, he had caught it to. The deep voice with the weird accent, the robotic way the words were spoken. A Terminator was out there and they had no weapons that could destroy it. They were royally screwed.

When the Terminators had entered the building they were operating under a simple battle plan. Each one of them would take a floor and search it. After the search was completed they would stand guard at the entrance to that floor. There were five of them and six floors in the building, the only thing that meant was that the one who searched the second level of the building would need to go down and sweep the first floor clear of targets. Logic dictated that the one with the heaviest weapon would search the topmost floor and block any escape should the targets sneak by the others. As the Terminator with the Minigun searched the floor his audio receptors picked up the sounds of gunfire. Following the sound he came across four men who were firing into a door, the fifth stood to the side clutching a bleeding arm. The plan the masters had put in motion had required advanced teams to go to buildings most likely to be attacked and this group, according to the uniforms they wore, were one of those teams. As he approached the wounded gunman was the first to notice and pointed in his direction. The others stopped their firing and also looked his way.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the men asked, the leader most likely.

"I am from team one." The Terminator answered. Again secrecy was imperative and only the pilot of the transport knew who they really were. "Whoever is in there, are they still alive?" He asked so the humans wouldn't ask any more questions.

"There's only one of them, and we don't know if he's still alive. But there's no way out of there so we've got him trapped." The leader answered. Terminator assessed the situation. He could hear breathing and movement, proof that the one trapped in there was still alive.

"Step aside." He told the thugs as he raised the Minigun. Just the sight of the weapon was enough to make them get out of the way. Terminator pressed the trigger of the weapon and the six barrels began spin, emitting a whirling sound. Inside the room Kyle heard the gun start to rev up and threw himself to the floor a split second before the whirling noise was replaced with a dull roar and more bullets then he could possibly hope to count began to fly. The rounds the Minigun spewed destroyed the room; computers exploded and were thrown off their tables. The walls became riddled with bullet holes, and even the table Kyle and Ein were hiding behind couldn't stop the high velocity rounds and they tore through it like paper. If they hadn't been lying flat both of them would have been killed. That didn't bring Kyle any comfort as some of the shots came so close he could feel the heat from the bullets. His Magnum was within reach but he knew that wouldn't be much use if he didn't have a clear shot. Between the MP5s and the chaingun rounds the door had been shot to pieces but he still couldn't get up. As carefully as he could he took a grenade off his vest and pulled the pin, holding the clip in place so the fuse wouldn't start burning. He knew that the Terminator would either have to stop firing or run out of ammunition. He was right and as soon as the firestorm ceased he stood and threw the grenade at what was left of the door. He dropped back down to the floor and covered his ears. In the hallway the Terminator had predetermined the number of rounds he would fire into the room and unlike the others he had been able to keep an accurate count and after that number had been reached he stopped firing and listened for any signs that whoever was in that room might still be alive. He did hear something hit the door but before he could analyze the sound and determine what the sound might be the door exploded outward, throwing flames and shrapnel at him. The explosion caused no damage to his chassis and his weapon was still functional.

"What the hell are you?" One of the thugs asked. Terminator looked and saw the humans backing away from him, some of them had their weapons raised. They were standing to the side and were out of the grenades blast radius but they had just seen this guy stand right in front of the blast and he hadn't flinched, even his eyes had remained open. That wasn't the only part of it. The explosion had thrown shards of metal that the man had ignored as he was struck. That wouldn't have been so strange if they had only hit the man's chest, body armor would have been able to stop that, but a good deal had been thrown into the man's face and not only did it not kill him but he didn't seem to notice it. Pain could be ignored but having your skin almost burned off and several large metal shards buried deep in your face was something no one could ignore. No one human anyway. All of the thugs were nervous and had their weapons trained on him but one of them squeezed the trigger a little too hard and fired a burst that struck the man in the forehead, and ricocheted off. The others panicked and opened fire, their nine-millimeter rounds doing nothing more then ripping off chunks of the man's skin. His camouflage had been compromised and that meant only one thing for the humans: termination. He raised his weapon and some of the thugs dropped theirs and ran while the others stood frozen. Pressing the trigger the Minigun again belched fire, literally ripping the men apart. As he killed them he also registered impacts on his back, it was easy to conclude that whoever was in that room had survived and was now firing on him. Once he confirmed that the five outside the room were dead he began to turn back to whoever was inside the room.

"God damn it!!" Kyle yelled as the Terminator began to turn. He had just fired three shots into the thing's back, all of them dead on and despite the power of the .44 rounds, despite the fact these were specialty rounds designed to shoot through almost anything, despite all of that they had had no more effect on this machine then the much smaller bullets the Dragon gunmen had used. Dropping his gun he took his final grenade off his vest pulled the pin, let clip fall and began counting. "One." The Terminator was almost all the way around. "Two." They were facing each other now. "Three." The gun began to rise. "Catch!!" He shouted and threw the grenade like a fastball, right at the Terminator's head. Letting go of the gun Terminator raised his left hand and motioned to catch the grenade, not because of what Kyle had said but because he calculated that if it continued on it's current path it would detonate in its face. He caught the grenade just before it hit his face and as soon as the grenade made contact with his hand it detonated. From behind the table Kyle heard the explosion then heard something drop to the ground. Stepping out from behind the table Kyle saw the room was filled with smoke, but he heard no movement. "Got him." He said with a sigh of relief.

"Negative." A voice said through the rapidly clearing smoke. Out of the smoke lurched the Terminator. The explosion had destroyed the arm up to the elbow and blew off all the skin on the front of its head, leaving a surreal sight of a metal face surrounded by burned flesh. The red, unfeeling eyes gave him a menacing look no human could ever hope to match, but they also gave Kyle an idea. Unfortunately he didn't have the reflexes to pull it off. Unable to aim the Minigun with only one arm the Terminator dropped it and took a Desert Eagle pistol out of a holster on his back. It began to take aim and Kyle knew there was no way he could dodge at this range so he stood calmly and waited for the end. The Terminator pulled the trigger but before the hammer could fall a small furry shape lunged at the machine and sank its teeth in the machine's wrist. Ein's bite didn't damage the Terminator, but it was able to throw its aim off just enough. The bullet from the gun that would have gone through Kyle's head instead grazed the side of it. Kyle fell backwards but as he fell he reached for his gun. When he hit the floor he grabbed it and took aim. Compensating for the extra weight on its arm the Terminator also took aim. Ein continued to thrash while keeping his jaws clamped down and that movement allowed Kyle to set his sights first and squeeze the trigger. Later he would wonder how he could be so scared and act so calmly, but right now all that mattered to him was hitting what he was aiming for. His aim was true and the bullet crashed into the Terminator's left eye. The Rhino bullet shattered the eye itself and, as Kyle had hoped, passed through the thin armor behind it, entering its head. If the bullet had continued on its path straight through it would have caused serious, but survivable, damage. However the skull was too hard and too thick for the bullet to go through so instead it began to ricochet inside the Terminator's head, unable to stop until its kinetic energy bled out. Before that happened it tore through the neural net brain again and again, completely destroying it and making the Terminator itself, for lack of a better phrase, spaz out. It began to shake uncontrollably and swung its one remaining arm wildly with such force that it flung Ein off. Not even thinking Kyle stood, started running, then leapt up and caught Ein like a football. He landed hard on his back and skidded to a stop.

"Ow." He moaned, his back hurting him more at the moment then the bullet graze. When he opened his eyes he saw a surprised looking Ein still in his hands. When Ein saw Kyle was all right he started wagging his tail. "Well how about that, it actually worked." Kyle said as he sat up and set Ein down next to him. Never again would he doubt the little dog's intelligence, or his value as a member of this team. Reaching up to his head his hissed as he touched the area where the bullet had grazed him. A piece of skin had been torn off and it would probably require stitches but thanks to Ein it was just that, a scrape instead of a bullet in the brain. "So ever think about going into police work?" He asked Ein, who didn't bark but seemed to smile at the remark. That smile turned into a growl as he turned his eyes. In front of them the Terminator had stopped shaking and stood there like a statue, its one remaining eye dark. That was a sure sign it was dead and Kyle calmly got up and retrieved his gun from where he had dropped it. He took the two remaining bullets out, ejected the rest and put in a fresh load of six. "Let's go. Spike is going to need our help." He told Ein, who barked an affirmative. As he passed the empty shell that had been a Terminator he decided to give it one last insult and pushed it. It teetered for a second then fell forward face first like an oversized domino. Satisfied Kyle started down the hallway but didn't hear Ein next to him. Looking back he saw that Ein had decided to give the machine one last insult of his own. Standing to the side Ein raised one of his hind legs and urinated on the defunct Terminator's head. Kyle roared with laughter as Ein quickly finished and rejoined him. "That was great." He told Ein as they made their way towards the stairwell.

Cyberdyne building: Third Floor

Jet and John weaved their way through the hallways and eventually came to a door that had 80B on it. Not wanting to use their guns or grenades to open the door and damage the weapons inside Jet took out his radio and called Ed.

"We're here Ed. Can you open the door from down there?" The other end was quiet. "Ed?" He said with a bit more concern.

"Ed is here." Ed's cheerful voice answered after a second.

"Good, I thought for a second something had happened. What were you doing?"

"Watching Kyle person fight a machine man." Ed answered.

"Did he manage to get away?" Jet asked.

"He managed to do one better." Faye's voice answered. "He killed the thing."

"Killed? How?! The grenades aren't powerful enough to do that." John asked.

"Don't know." Faye replied. "He just shot the thing and it stopped moving."

"Well it's nice to hear some good news." Jet remarked.

"Then you won't like this." Faye said. "There's a Terminator on almost every floor, including yours."

"Were exactly is he?" John asked.

"He's getting closer." Came Faye's reply.

"In that case have Ed open the door!" Jet almost shouted. A second later the door beeped and slid open. Going inside they found a rack containing several of the plasma guns, complete with shoulder straps. Picking up one of them John found it to be surprisingly light. He squeezed the trigger slightly and a red laser beam activated, putting a red dot on the wall. He pulled the trigger the rest of the way but nothing happened.

"Some super weapon, they don't even work." John complained.

"That's because they're not loaded." Jet said and tossed him a black box. "These things work like regular guns." He picked up another box from a high tech holding case and inserted it into his own rifle, near the back. "Insert clip." He flipped a switch on the side of the gun. "Turn off the safety, aim and fire." That sounded a little to simple for such a high tech weapon but John followed Jet's lead.

"Insert clip." He repeated and inserted the clip. It went in with the familiar click that always accompanied the loading of an automatic weapon. "Turn off the safety." He flipped the switch and to his surprise he heard and felt the clip being locked into place. "Aim and fire." He said and pulled the trigger, aiming at the far wall. There was a flash of purple light and a small explosion on the wall. John let go of the trigger and stared at the gun. Its report had sounded like a mix of regular gun and energy being discharged, but the best thing was it had virtually no recoil. While he marveled at the new weapon Jet went over and looked at the hole in the wall.

"Hey John. You'd better take a look at this." John walked over and examined the damage his rifle had done. The energy bolt had gone right through the wall and into the next room, and there was another smoking hole in the wall on the opposite side of that room.

"I like it!" John declared. "Now we have something that'll put us on even ground with those metal bastards!"

"Speaking of which." Jet said and took out his radio. "Faye? How close to us is that Terminator?"

"He's headed right for you." Faye replied.

"He must have heard us." John said. Jet nodded.

"Well at least we get a chance to see how well these things work." Jet stated and trained his weapon on the door.

"Anything else about this thing I should know?" John asked as he aimed his weapon.

"Just that the harder you pull the trigger the faster it fires." Jet replied. When John had fired the weapon for the first time he had felt a resistance in the trigger and what Jet had said explained it. If this weapon worked on the same principles as other guns it would have three modes of fire, single shot, burst fire and full automatic. He could experiment with that later but right now he heard the heavy footsteps of the Terminator.

"In here you turkey!!" John yelled, making sure the Terminator would come to them. It stepped into the doorway, unafraid of what might be inside. Jet and John didn't even give him a chance to raise his assault gun and opened fire. One plasma blot struck him in the stomach, forcing it back, and the second hit it in the chest, piercing its power cell. It fell back into the wall convulsing then the upper half of it exploded as the power cell went critical. John looked from the twitching remains of the Terminator to his gun and a sinister grin spread across his face. "You know what this means don't you?" He asked Jet.

"Payback time." Jet replied. Each of them grabbed several spare energy clips from their holding cases, not knowing how long their current clips would last, and each took a spare rifle. As they made their way back to the stairwell Jet again took out his radio. "Ed, Faye? I take it you both saw what just happened."

"Did we ever." Faye answered.

"Edward told you they would work." Ed spoke up.

"And you were absolutely right." Jet told her. "But right now we've got to find out where those other Terminators are. Now that we have a weapon that works we need to take them out as fast as we can."

"Right now there's one Terminator on the fifth, fourth, and second floor. The ones on the fifth and second are just walking around but Spike is on the fourth being chased by our friends that were hiding out on the fifth. He's doing ok so far but if that Terminator catches up to him…" She let the sentence hang.

"Don't worry it won't." Jet assured her as he opened the door to the stair well. Once inside they heard a familiar bark and saw Kyle and Ein coming down from the sixth floor.

"Man am I glad to see someone who isn't trying to kill me." Kyle said and Ein seconded the remark. "You guys would not believe what just happened…" He was cut off as Jet thrust a fully loaded plasma rifle into his hands. "What's this?"

"A Terminator killer." John replied. "Just point and shoot, but don't pull the trigger too hard." Kyle gave them a confused look.

"There's more then one Terminator in the building." Jet explained. "I'm going to help Spike on the fourth floor. Kyle you take the fifth floor, John you take the second. Keep in contact with Ed and Faye, they'll tell you where to go." Without wasting anymore time started walking up to the fourth floor and John started down towards the second.

"Come on." Kyle told Ein. He knew all the cameras were out on the fifth, making contact with Faye and Ed useless. Ein, on the other hand, would be able to detect a Terminator long before he could.

Cyberdyne building: Fourth Floor

Spike was still playing a cat and mouse game with his pursuer. When he and Kyle had split up the majority of the group had followed him. Odds like this had never bothered him in the past and they didn't now. When he had entered the floor he had pulled a pin from one of his grenades and set it on the ground. As a result when the first three thugs had walked through the door the only movement the saw was him and they started to pursue, so oblivious to the grenade that one of them almost stepped on it. They noticed when the grenade went off literally right underneath them, killing those three and throwing another who was just stepping onto the floor back into the stairwell. When they forced their way through Spike had been ready and fired three shots, sending three more of them to the ground. That cut their strength by more then half but the ones that were left started to wise up. Instead of entering the hallway one of them stuck his gun out and began firing in Spike's direction, forcing him to retreat around a corner. The remaining four entered the hallway still firing, acting like a military squad, advancing cautiously and keeping each other covered.

"Swell time for them to grow some brains." Spike grumbled as he retreated down the hallway. When they turned the corner Spike had another grenade ready and tossed it their way. Diving back into the first hallway they were able to avoid the blast.

"When I get my hands on that son of a bitch I'm gonna…." The lead thug started.

"You have already proven your incompetence. I will take over." A voice said from behind them. Spike heard the voice as he was running and it made him stop.

"Of all the times one of those things to show up." Spike mumbled to himself.

"And just who the hell do you think you are?!?" The lead thug shouted.

[So they don't know what that thing is. Maybe I can cause some dissention in the ranks.] Spike thought to himself. He loaded a fresh clip into his gun and listened to the conversation between the thug leader and the newly arrived Terminator.

"I have orders directly from the masters." The Terminator answered in his neutral tone. "You are no longer in command." Spike could almost see the look on the thug leader's face, solid red and looking like he was about to burst every blood vessel in his body. "Follow me." The machine ordered. Spike took aim down the hallway. He could have kept running during the confusion but if he was right what he was about to do would cut the number of his pursuers down to one. It should be the same as the police captain the first Terminator had blown away at the Moving Target shootout. The Terminator stepped into his field of vision and Spike opened fire, emptying the whole clip at the thing's head. The bullets tore off chunks of skin and ricocheted in every direction.

"He ain't human." A terrified voice said from behind the Terminator.

"Waste him!!" The leader shouted. The remaining thugs opened fire into the Terminator's back and Spike used the distraction to start running. True to its programming the Terminator turned and gunned down all those who had seen what it really was. Looking down the hallway where the first attack had come from he could see no one. Undeterred by his missed opportunity the machine stalked forward.

Spike had been ducking and dodging the Terminator ever since. A couple of times he almost had his head shot off and unfortunately for him his last few grenades did little to slow the robotic monstrosity. As he ducked down another hallway he head someone shouting.

"Spike!! You okay buddy?!" It was Jet!! Spike couldn't believe it, Jet was yelling at the top of his lungs even though there was a Terminator around. Turning around a corner Spike saw the Terminator halt and turned around at the sound of the voice.

"Jet, there's a Terminator up here! Get out of here now!!!" The Terminator focused his attention back to him.

"I know about the Terminator." Jet answered. "But I've got something here that'll make even these tin cans go down."

"Sure, you just happened to find a nuke in your pocket that you forgot you had." Spike ducked back behind the corner as the Terminator fired a burst in his direction.

"Nope. Got something better." Jet said as he stepped into the hallway. Risking a glance Spike saw three flashes of light come out of the weapon Jet was carrying and go right through the Terminator. The machine fell to the floor and after convulsing it exploded. Walking up to Spike Jet handed him a weapon just like his own. "No time for explanations, there's two more of these things running around and we've got to help John and Kyle find them." Knowing this wasn't the time to ask questions Spike nodded and followed Jet.

Cyberdyne building: Fifth Floor

"It just had to be the one where we can't talk to anyone." Kyle complained. Since the cameras on the fifth floor were out they couldn't maintain contact with the others downstairs. As a result he had to wander the hallways with Ein as his only warning system. Ein didn't respond to his complaint and continued to sniff the air. Catching wind of something he didn't like Ein went into a defensive posture and started growling. There was only one thing that would make Ein react like that. "He's coming this way, right?" He asked. Ein barked an affirmative. Kyle listened and he could hear the heavy plodding steps coming his way. He aimed his new weapon, wishing that John had given him a bit more instruction on how to use it. Any thoughts he had vanished as a Terminator turned the corner and faced him. Panicking Kyle pulled the trigger as hard as he could. He didn't know what would happen but he wasn't expecting bolts of light to come pouring out of the barrel. He was even more surprised when the light hit the Terminator it reacted like a normal person would when they were shot. One shot struck it in the forehead and it dropped like a stone. Letting go of the trigger Kyle saw not only that not only the Terminator was shot full of holes but so was the wall behind him. By firing the gun on full auto he had missed more times then he actually hit his target. As he and Ein stared at the results of the new gun his radio came to life.

"Kyle are you there? We heard gunfire are you all right?" Jet's voice asked.

"I'm here, and I'm fine." Ein barked a complaint. "Sorry, make that we're both fine. You know this is some weapon."

"And you're going to have to use it again." Jet answered. "There's still one on the second floor and…" He was cut off as they felt another explosion rip through the building. "That came from downstairs!!" All three of them started running.

Cyberdyne building: Second Floor

As John entered the second floor he opened a channel to Faye and Ed.

"Ok you two, my life is in your hands now so please try to not get me killed."

"We'll think about it." Faye answered.

"Ha ha." John replied. "Just tell me where this thing is."

"Machine man is to the right." Ed told him. Kyle turned and started walking and came to a fork.

"Right or left?" John asked.

"Left." Faye answered. John followed his instructions but what neither of them could know was the Terminator was listening in on their radio frequency. He had tired to contact the other Terminators but found all of them were offline. Listening to the radio chatter he had heard the humans had found the plasma rifles Cyberdyne developed. Realizing the situation the remaining Terminator had developed a new plan. From the radio conversations he calculated that the two people guiding the others did not have plasma rifles and determined by terminating the two he would regain the advantage. So when he heard John Connor being directed to him he started changed his own course. Over the radio John heard Faye mumble something.

"Talk to me Faye. What's happening?"

"He's heading right for you." Faye answered. Hearing this Terminator broke into a run. "He's right on top of you!!" Faye yelled frantically. Stopping near a corner John trained his rifle on where the Terminator would come around. Instead of turning the corner the Terminator took a shortcut and just plowed through the wall. When the wall exploded John turned just in time to see the muzzle of the Terminator's P90 flash and felt something slam into his chest like a sledgehammer. He crashed into the wall and fell forward. Before John had even hit the ground the Terminator stepped passed him and headed for the stairwell. In the lobby Faye and saw John shot and go down. They also saw the Terminator heading for the stairs and he would reach them before any of the others did. "Get down Ed!" Faye ordered and grabbed the grenade launcher and took aim at the entrance to the stairwell. While she focused all her attention on the stairs Ed saw John forcing himself to get to his knees.

"John person is getting up!" Ed happily cried. That good feeling disappeared as bullets began to shoot through the door almost hitting both of them. Over the radio John heard both of them scream and he could hear the gunfire coming from the stairwell. Ignoring the burning in his chest he forced himself to stand and grabbed his plasma rifle. Moving as fast as he could he headed for the stairwell.

In the lobby both the girls were now hiding under the guard's desk and waiting for the shooting to stop. When it did Faye stood and again took aim. She saw the door being torn down from the other side and didn't wait for a target before firing. The explosion knocked the Terminator back and as John reached the door the shockwave from the blast hit him and threw him back into the second floor. Lurching back to his feet with a moan he staggered into the stairwell and saw a slightly charred, still smoking Terminator walking into the lobby. He heard more gunfire and rushed down the stairs as fast as he could. When he got to the door he saw the Terminator firing at the guard's desk.

"HEY ASSHOLE!!!" He shouted. When the Terminator turned to look at him he fired one shot that nailed it right between the eyes. It stopped moving and to make sure John put several more shots into its head until it exploded. The now headless body dropped to the ground with a loud thunk. "Serves you right you bastard." He snarled at the body. "Everybody all right?" He shouted at the desk. Ed jumped up from behind it and onto John, giving him another bear hug and knocking him down in the process. "GAAAAAA!!!" Ed didn't seem to hear him.

"Ed and Faye Faye thought John person was dead but he's all right!!" She said and tightened her grip.

"Thanks for your concern Ed but you're crushing the few ribs I have left!!" He shouted. Ed let go and John sat up.

"I think she's glad to see you." Faye remarked as she walked over and offered to help him up.

"Now whatever gave you that idea?" John said as he accepted her help, groaning and clutching his side.

"What happened?" They looked over and saw Kyle entering the lobby, followed by Jet and Spike.

"The son of a bitch shot me. Feels like he broke a couple of my ribs." John said motioning to the headless Terminator.

"Good thing you had your vest on." Jet remarked.

"Yeah. Nice to see ISSP doesn't go with the lowest bidder." John said.

"Well." Kyle spoke up. "We've managed to get what we came for, got some new weapons, and even managed to destroy five Terminators in the process. But now we have no way out of here."

"On the contrary." Jet told him. "We have an escape route all planned out." John looked over at the monitors which showed a small army of Red Dragon enforcers milling around outside.

"This I've got to see." John remarked.

[A/N: I don't know if a Terminator can be killed in the way that Kyle did, and I also don't know how the plasma rifles operate or what the Terminator's reaction is when they're hit by them. Lets face it, in all the movies you didn't see the plasma guns hit anything but humans. And before anyone says something about the flashback in the first movie you never saw the Terminator get hit. Anyway, I don't know if those are "right" but since I've heard nothing to contradict me that's how it's going to be.]


	12. Escape

Chapter 12: Escape

"That's the last of them." John reported as he set several more plasma rifles in a pile. "In total we have twelve rifles and twenty four clips for them. How many are we taking with us?"

"All of them." Jet answered.

"All of them?" Faye asked as she came into the room carrying a think stack of folders. "That seems like a bit of overkill Jet." She remarked as she dumped the folders into an ever-growing pile around the van. For the last half an hour they had been putting the finishing touches on what they hoped would be a major blow to the Red Dragons and the Terminator program. All the still functioning radios on the Red Dragon gunmen and the Terminators had remained quiet, they hoped that meant whoever was in charge of this was expecting someone to report in when all of them had been killed. The transport on the roof had not moved and no reinforcements had been dropped in, a good sign. Using a torn sleeve from his uniform they had bandaged Kyle's head and right now he and Spike were standing guard at the roof entrance, ready to shoot anything that came through it. John's ribs appeared to be cracked, not broken, but until they knew for sure they couldn't risk injuring him further so along with Faye they had combed the building for any hard copies of the project data while Ed copied and deleted everything from the computer systems. By putting all the hard copies next to the explosive filled van they guaranteed everything vital would be vaporized.

"Those are the only weapons we know that work on Terminators." Jet explained. "We don't know how to make more or how long they'll last, so we've got to take all that we can."

"Makes sense." John agreed as he stuffed the weapons and power cells into two large gym bags they had found in the guard's locker room. "But all this fire power isn't going to do us much good if we can't get out of here. You still have yet to explain this great escape plan."

"That's because it wasn't time for it just yet." Jet answered. "You almost done Ed?"

"Edward has just one more to go." Ed answered. "Place where they make machine men."

"Then I guess now would be the best time." Jet said. "You wanted to know what the great plan is John? Well this is it." He nodded toward Ed who typed a single command. John and Faye exchanged confused glances.

"What exactly did she just do?" Faye asked.

"Edward has just called a taxi!" Ed announced before Jet could say anything. When Ed had typed in the command across the city in a run down "parking lot" for ships the engines of the Swordfish, Hammerhead, and Red Tail began to power up. Slowly they began to lift off and following a route preprogrammed in by Ed they set a course for Cyberdyne, leaving any onlookers gawking at the sight of three craft that seemed to know exactly where they were going despite the fact none of them had a pilot.

As the three craft rushed towards their destination Jet was explaining how Ed had programmed them to come here by remote control. Faye was less then enthusiastic.

"And just when did Ed hack into my flight controls?" Faye asked, not happy that her personal craft had been tampered with.

"When you and John were becoming drinking buddies." Jet answered. Faye gave him an angry look. "Hey, if we had asked you would have said no." He reasoned. Faye didn't say anything but still looked angry. "Look, the important thing is that they'll be here in about ten minutes. It doesn't look like they brought in air support so we should be able to get out of here long before they're able to get in. You going to be able to finish in time Ed?"

"No problem captain." Ed answered. "Ed will be in and out as easy as …." Tomato's screen went blank. "pie?"

"Unauthorized user access." A voice came from Tomato.

"MPU this isn't the time for games!" Jet shouted. He caught himself when he realized something. "MPU, when did you change your voice?" The voice did bare a slight resemblance to MPU's but there was a difference. This voice seemed more mechanical then MPU's, more detached.

"Program designation MPU is incorrect. Designation MPU does not compute with any known commands." Now they were sure it wasn't MPU, he never talked like this.

"If not MPU then who are you?" Ed asked, voicing the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Skynet." The voice answered. Before anyone could say anything it spoke again. "User identification necessary for further information. If you to not have proper authorization within the next ten seconds you will be in violation of …" As it began to rattle off a list of felonies John turned to Jet.

"You do know where this place is don't you Jet?" Jet nodded, still a little stunned at what he had just heard. "Good." Grabbing the wires that connected Tomato to the guard's computer he yanked them out before the countdown had even started. "Sorry Ed, but after what that Terminator AI did it's best if we don't take chances." Ed didn't object but she did seem a bit disappointed.

"So now we have to deal with a sentient supercomputer. Can anything else bad happen to us?" Faye groaned.

"With the talent you guys have for attracting bad luck I'd say that's a safe bet." John remarked. Faye glared at him and Jet sighed in response. "Kidding, just kidding!" He said, mostly to Faye. "So we know about Skynet. What do we do about it?"

"We'll burn that bridge when we come to it." Jet answered. "Right now we need to concentrate on getting out of here. The C4 is armed and ready. You do have a remote detonator right John?" John opened one of his vest pockets and took out what looked like a remote control.

"Kyle and I both took one, just in case." John said.

"Ok, when we're clear of the building blow it. Once we get out of here we head for the Bebop. Once we're in space we'll try to make sense of all this. Ed, how soon until our ride gets here?"

"Exactly four minutes and twenty six seconds." Ed read from Tomato's screen.

"Then we need to get going." Jet said and grabbed one of the bags that contained the rifles. Not wanting John to risk further injury Faye picked up the second bag. Ed shut down Tomato and the four of them headed towards the roof.

"Not to rain on anyone's parade." John said as they climbed the stairs. "But what are Kyle and me going to do? We can't all fit into the Red Tail."

"And you're not going to." Jet answered. "You two are going to hijack that transport and follow us back to the Bebop."

"What about Edward?" Ed asked.

"You're riding in the Red Tail with Faye." Jet told her. Faye started to say something but Jet cut her off. "Inside Faye! We don't have any other options." Faye remained quiet. When they got to the roof entrance Spike and Kyle were still at their posts.

"Time to go?" Kyle asked. Jet nodded. "Best news I've heard all night. What's the plan?"

"First," John replied as he drew his sidearm. "You and I are going to steal that vehicle outside."

"Why us?" Kyle asked.

"Because we're the ones that are going to be flying that thing." John explained as he stepped onto the roof. "Keep that rifle ready. We don't know if any other Terminators are in there." Kyle shook his head but followed. As they approached the ship they kept their eyes peeled but didn't see anything and went up the lowered ramp. The back was empty and in the front they saw only one person sitting in the pilots seat.

"About time you guys got back." The pilot said. At least they knew he was human. No Terminator talked like that. "Did you get all of…." He started to look over his shoulder and when he saw that they weren't part of the team sent in he went for the gun in his shoulder holster, prompting John to fire three shots through the back of the seat. The pilot jerked three times then slumped down. Holstering his gun John went forward and took the dead pilot out of his harness. The craft secure Kyle walked out of it and signaled an all clear to the others. As the others came onto the roof they heard the sound of engines and one by one the summoned craft landed. Spike ran for the Swordfish and Ed ran for the Red Tail. Faye and Jet went into the transport and set the weapons down.

"Any trouble?" Jet asked. Before anyone could answer John came out of the cockpit dragging the pilot's body, which he dumped outside the craft like a sack of garbage. "Guess not. So who's going to fly this thing?"

"He is." John said, jerking his thumb at Kyle, who gave him a suspicious glance. "Hey I'm not going to sit in a blood covered seat. Besides, you're always bragging that you're the better pilot."

"Now that that's settled here's the flight plan." Jet told Kyle. "You follow the rest of us and land where we tell you." He picked up Ein, turned and headed towards the Hammerhead before Kyle could object. Kyle looked at Faye, who just shrugged and sprinted for the Red Tail. John strapped himself into the empty copilot's seat and Kyle just sighed and sat down in the pilot's seat. After finding the tracking beacon for the craft he smashed it on the floor. The controls were unfamiliar but he was able to get the hang of it and after closing the ramp and starting the engines he turned the radio to the frequency the others were using.

"We're ready back here Jet, just lead the way." Kyle said. The other three craft lifted off and Kyle began to follow them. From the ground the Red Dragon enforcers started shooting at the fleeing craft. As bullets were whizzing by them John took out his remote detonator, and waited for the go ahead.

"This is far enough. John, start the fireworks." Jet said. John smiled and pressed the button. Inside the Cyberdyne building the three hundred pounds of C4 detonated all at once. The security doors that had sealed the building had an effect that neither the Dragons or the Bebop crew could have known about. Being solidly built to withstand attack from the outside the metal walls were actually able to withstand the blast. As a result of not being able to go out the explosion had only one way to go, up. Inside such a confined place the blast was actually magnified, vaporizing most of the inside and making the building erupt like a volcano. When the shockwaves hit their craft all of them turned to see a fireball shooting up over two hundred feet into the air.

"Now that is a beautiful sight." John said. He would have also enjoyed the sight that was now happening on the ground if he could see it. Enforces now ran away form the building as fast as they could, trying to get away from falling debris. Miraculously there were few serious injuries, but one rather large chunk of roof fell on one of the remaining cars and squashed it flat.

"That's the best thing that's happened in two days." Faye responded.

"Maybe, but it won't take them long to figure out what happened to us." Jet told them. Their radars were empty now but that could change very quickly. All of them put all the speed they could into their respective vehicles and headed for the Bebop.

"So how are we going to do this?" Kyle asked. "All of us can't land at once."

"Jet should land first." Spike answered. "That way he can get the ship moving before all of us have to land."

"Ok Jet goes first." Kyle answered. "That would put…"

"Faye and Ed second." John interrupted. "They have all the information we've gotten so far."

"All right." Jet agreed. "They come in second, then you two. Those plasma guns are almost as important as the information Ed's carrying."

"Guess that puts you in last Spike." Faye remarked.

"Doesn't matter to me." Spike answered with a tone of indifference. They flew for a few more minutes when Jet's spoke again.

"We're almost there. You three fly a holding pattern until it's your turn. Kyle, can you see where the ship is?" Kyle scanned the bay looked in the direction Jet was headed before answering.

"Behind the garbage scow?" Kyle asked. There was dead silence on the radio. A second later over the radio came the sound of Ed giggling hysterically, accompanied by the sounds of laughter trying to be muffled. Next to him John was trying to hold back his own laughter but when Kyle looked over at him in confusion he couldn't help it and burst out laughing. Kyle shook his head as he patched things together. "It is the garbage scow isn't it?" He asked John, who was still laughing but nodded his head, not wanting to get on Jet's bad side. "Oh man."

"I guarantee you are going to pay for that." John said when he was able to stop laughing. Getting back to business they watched as the Hammerhead descended and went into Bebop's hangar. Once he landed Jet jumped out and began sprinting towards the bridge. Outside the Red Tail had begun to descend when they started taking fire from the ground.

"I don't believe it. Can't we get just one lucky break!?!" Kyle shouted. As soon as the words left his mouth whoever was shooting at them found their range and bullets began to impact on the craft. "Ask a stupid question." He mumbled as he began to make his approach, still under fire from unseen shooters.

When the Red Dragon squad had taken up positions they had chosen them very carefully. Being too close to the ship in question would tip off whoever was coming back to it. Too far away and they wouldn't have time to get many shots off before the targets could get under cover. So they had taken positions on vessels around the Bebop and on rooftops from the shore. Armed with long-range semiautomatic sniper rifles they had been authorized to shoot anyone approaching the vessel but had not been given details on how they would approach. Shooting anyone who came near it would draw unwanted attention so they had to wait until someone actually headed for the vessel. Once they saw one of the group that had just passed over them head for the ship they knew they had their targets and opened fire.

Getting closer John and Kyle could see the Bebop picking up speed in preparation for take off.

"You have landed on a moving ship before haven't you?" John asked as he tightened his harness.

"Once." Kyle answered, not taking his eyes off the Bebop.

"That's very reassuring." John remarked. The Bebop lifted up out of the water and Kyle lowered the landing gear and aimed for the hangar. Skimming the deck he went through the hangar entrance, killed the forward momentum and activated the braking jets to keep them from running into the wall. The craft bounced and shook with a force that would have thrown its two passengers out of their seats if they had not been strapped in but once on solid ground it began to slow. Kyle had to swerve to avoid hitting the Red Tail and another to miss the Hammerhead. The craft came to an abrupt halt and as soon as they had stopped Kyle lowered the ramp and both unhooked their harnesses. Temporarily forgetting about John's injuries both grabbed one of the weapons bags and ran down the ramp. Behind them they could hear Spike coming in and at the hatch leading to the ship they saw Faye and Ed. All of them waited until Spike had landed then went inside.

"You call that a landing?" Faye asked Kyle sarcastically as they started down the hallway.

"Ah shut up." Kyle shot back. The ship shuddered and they had to brace themselves against the wall to keep from falling all over each other.

"I hope that wasn't what it felt like Jet." Spike said into his radio. Their plan was to escape and avoid, if the Dragons had finally gotten missile armed fighters after them they would be at their mercy. And mercy was something the Red Dragons were known to have none of.

"I'm trying to make escape velocity faster then this ship was designed for." Jet's voice answered. They started to move forward slowly, everyone keeping one hand on the wall to keep their balance as the shaking increased. As suddenly as the shaking had started it stopped, and they felt the familiar sensation of zero gravity as the Bebop broke orbit and headed into space. Now able to move more freely they headed towards the bridge, where Jet was setting their course.

"Are we in the clear?" Spike asked.

"Looks it." Jet answered. "No one is following, and the scope is clear in front of us."

"Incredible." Kyle said. "We actually got away with it."

"Partially got away with it." John said. Kyle and Spike turned towards him. "Ed tried to hack into the computer system where the Terminators are being made. Not only was she not able to get in but what stopped her is a hundred times more dangerous the Terminators." He took a deep breath before dropping the bombshell. "They built Skynet, and it looks like it's in charge of creating the T-800s."

"Oh great." Kyle sighed. "That's the just what we need, another challenge."

"You sure it's Skynet?" Spike asked. "What would they build it for? They don't need it."

"It may or not be the real Skynet." Jet answered. "It could be that they just took the name and gave it to the computer running the plant but from what we saw we can't be sure. There is some good news."

"We could use some of that." John remarked.

"When Ed was in Cyberdyne's mainframe she managed to get information about the construction facility. It should tell us everything we'll need."

"Nice to see something good came out of all this besides these." John said as he hefted the bag he was carrying, wincing as he did.

"First things first. You two need to have those injuries taken care of. After that we'll take a look at what Ed managed to get." Kyle and John nodded and began to walk out. "One last thing Kyle."

"Yeah?" Kyle asked. Jet walked over and threw his right arm around Kyle's shoulder. Kyle tensed up, remembering what he had said earlier about the Bebop.

"I know you're new here and you don't know how things work. Because of that I'm not angry." Kyle relaxed slightly and before he could react Jet had him in a headlock. He wasn't choking Kyle but he wasn't letting him breathe too easy either. "But here's a little friendly advice." He said calmly as Kyle was taking ragged breaths. The others just watched this thing play out, some of them more amused then others. "If there's one thing I don't like, it's people insulting my ship. Are we clear on that?"

"Crystal." Kyle managed to choke out. Jet let go of the headlock and he began coughing himself hoarse.

"Now that we've got that settled let's see about patching you two up." Jet said and left the bridge. Kyle tried to say something but ended up coming out as a grunt. Spike and Ed left without saying anything but John and Faye stayed, smiling.

"Maybe next you can make another joke about his age. He hates those almost as much as he hates jokes about the ship." Faye said. "Then he'll skip the formalities and throw you out an airlock." John laughed and Kyle gave her an angry glance.

"You're on thin ice already Kyle." John warned him. "I don't think making them angrier would be a smart move." Kyle just growled and left, followed by a smirking Faye and John.

On Mars Red Dragon operatives tried to secure the Cyberdyne building. Or more specifically what was left of it. The fire was now out but the building had been gutted and the walls seemed ready to collapse in on themselves. A search through the wreckage yielded nothing salvageable, even the Terminator endoskeletons had been turned into lumps of slag. In a black car several blocks away Vicious sat listening to the radio chatter, all of it furious. Knowing an attack on Cyberdyne was inevitable Vicious had made sure to put himself in a location so he could 'be of assistance' when the attack began. Of course when he had tried he wasn't allowed near the building but that hadn't stopped him from 'assisting'. When the squad of Terminators was sent in he was able to convince the ones in charge of this endeavor that no other reinforcements would be needed. He faked changing his mind and said those machines would be all that was necessary. When the personal craft had started to land on the roof Vicious had used his influence to make sure that the ISSP radios would begin to have 'problems'. A disgruntled ISSP clerk with high explosives and access to the radio towers could do quite a lot of damage. Of course where he got the explosives and how he had gotten such easy access to the towers would never be known. Oddly enough it was his own idea to blow himself up along with the towers, one less end for Vicious to tie up. After that everything had degraded into chaos. With no air support of their own they would have to depend on ISSP to catch the fleeing craft. Short-range radios still worked but communication with anything in the air was impossible. A few ISSP vehicles had attempted pursuit and lost them almost immediately, narrowly avoiding a mid-air collision with each other.

"It appears everyone has underestimated this group." Vicious mused to himself. So far they had done the impossible. First they had managed to hide both themselves and that police officer after they had helped him escape. They had managed to destroy six T-800 battle units; the most lethal machines ever built and designed to be unstoppable. Finally they had managed to attack and completely destroy Cyberdyne, then escape without a single loss. Even with the help he had given them he hadn't expected them to succeed. He had planned to go in with a team of his own and destroy the building after the two sides had finished slaughtering each other. Instead they had escaped with their lives, a double win for his side. They were still alive and could be used again instead of him handling things personally; in addition it was another slap in the face to the corpses. He regretted he would not be there to see the reactions when they were told that a group of low life bounty hunters and two rogue policemen were systematically wiping out their most valued and secret project. That thought brought him back to his current problem. According to his spies all the information from all the databases concerning the Terminator project had been deleted. What gave him cause for concern was that not even he knew where these machines were being constructed, or how many more were left.

"Sir." The driver's voice broke his concentration. "The elders are ordering that you report to them at once."

"It was just a matter of time." Vicious replied. He nodded his head and the driver headed back to headquarters. "Has there been any word about the situation with Radical Edward?"

"No sir. He hasn't accepted the transfer yet and he's made no attempt to contact us."

"Very well." He was beginning to think it would another message would need to be sent to Radical Edward, and soon.

On board the Bebop the situation was not much better. They had bandaged Kyle's head and tapped up John's ribs but that was all they could do since they wouldn't be able to get anywhere near a hospital. The Bebop itself was just beyond Mars orbit, out past any ISSP patrols so they should be safe. Currently they were all in the lounge waiting while Ed turned on Tomato.

"We were able to get some basic information about this place as we were going through Cyberdyne's mainframe." Jet explained as Tomato booted up. "It turns out it's broken into two main structures. A command center and a construction center, both of them on Earth."

"Earth?" Faye asked. "That seems like a pretty dumb place to put something so important."

"Actually it makes perfect sense." John replied. "Who would ever think to look for something that's actually important on that mudball of a planet?"

"They still have one major problem." Spike broke in. "If they did build these things on Earth odds are they would have been flattened by meteors in about a week."

"Which is why they got creative." Jet said as a building schematic appeared on screen. "This is the construction facility, about fifty miles from the command center. It's built about a hundred feet below the ground, enough protection to survive all but the largest meteors. It's composed of two main sections, assembly and storage. The T-800s are put together on an assembly line then put into storage until they're needed. Once a unit is designated it gets its skin then transported to wherever it's needed."

"How many T-800s do they have now?" Kyle asked. Jet hesitated before answering.

"The last count put the total number at over three hundred." The others remained silent. "And there was no information on whether the assembly line was still going or not."

"There's nothing we can do about the numbers." Spike spoke up before anyone could lower the moral anymore. "What about the command center? Maybe we can find some way to use that against them." Jet said nothing and brought up a picture of a mountain pockmarked with craters.

"This is the command center. Cheyenne Mountain, an old air defense compound that the Dragons took over and rebuilt. It was designed to survive near hits from a nuclear weapon and was the perfect place to put something like this. There's no real information on how they've changed the inside of it but what we do know is that some AI program is running it."

"Skynet." John said dryly.

"We don't know it's actually Skynet." Jet defended. "And without getting into the system we can't find out."

"There is one way." MPU's voice said.

"How?" Jet asked.

"When Ed was in the system I did a passive scan of the programming format of the AI in question while it was busy conversing with you. Skynet had a unique programming format and I had intended to compare it with the format in the original Cyberdyne files. Would you like the comparison done now?"

"Go ahead." Jet answered. Tomato's screen spit into two halves; one side containing the programming format from the Cyberdyne files and the other from the AI they had encountered.

"A computer being sneaky." Kyle said with some amazement. John just shrugged and the others seemed indifferent. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised." A few seconds later a message appeared on Tomato's screen.

Comparison complete

Probability of match: 100%

Everyone was silent, even Ed and MPU. Now in addition to the Terminators they would have to deal with possibly the most dangerous AI program in existence.


	13. The Awakening

Chapter 13: The Awakening

After allowing the fact that they now had another, larger problem to deal with other then the Terminators sink in Kyle voiced the most obvious question.

"So what do we do?"

"The only thing we can do." Jet answered. "We have to destroy both those facilities." The group knew that it would have to be done and no one objected.

"Any specific ideas on how to do that?" Spike asked. "There aren't that many of us and we don't have many friends right now."

"We do have at least one." Jet replied, turning to Ed. "See if whoever sent us that stuff earlier has sent us anything else. Whoever it is may be our best chance to beat these things." As Ed began to check Tomato Jet turned back to the others. "In the meantime we have two things going for us. One is that the Dragons aren't total idiots and made it so Skynet is directly linked with only the production complex. It can receive transmissions from the net and such but can't transmit. That means that it doesn't have direct control over anything, not even the Terminators."

"And the second thing?" Faye asked.

"This is only a guess but I don't think Skynet has become sentient yet."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Kyle asked.

"Because when Skynet was talking to us it sounded like one of those automated bank tellers. When MPU talks he sounds more human, like his words weren't just a recording."

"Any idea on how long it'll take for it to become sentient?" Spike asked.

"None." Jet replied. Before the conversation could go on a beep came from Tomato.

"Ed has a message." Ed announced. "Friend is very thankful." The others leaned in to get a better look.

{Radical Edward.} The message read. {You have completed the task assigned to you and as per our agreement you will be paid five million Woolongs for services rendered. You will find the account number attached to this message. We will contact you if we again require you talents.} Again the message was signed {A friend}

"A wire transfer." Kyle spoke up. "Isn't that a convenient way to track someone down."

"Not when Ed is in charge." Ed said and began typing. After she was finished she clicked on the account number to begin the transfer. On the screen numbers and letters began to flash by.

"What's that?" John asked as he watched the data.

"Something Chessmaster Hex taught Ed." Ed replied. John nodded in understanding. During the incident with Hex all the Woolongs he stole had been electronically laundered so no one would be able to tell where the money came from or where it was going to. As they watched the money was being divided, put into various accounts, taken out and put back together, then divided and put back together again in order to defeat any tracking programs that might be running. After a few moments a message popped up saying {Transfer complete. Message sent} and five million Woolongs were now in the Bebop's account.

"Message sent? What does that mean?" Faye asked.

"A little something extra Ed put in." Ed explained. "If someone tries to find Ed a message follows the path of the program they are using back to them. Ed made the program all by herself." She said proudly.

At that moment the recipient of the message was standing before the Red Dragon elders, all now showing visible signs of anger.

"Again our agents have met with failure!" Wang Long said angrily.

"And once again you just happen to be involved!" Ping Long continued. Vicious almost smiled, it was not often that the elders used sarcasm.

"I was there attempting to assist." Vicious stated calmly. This caused the elders to become angrier.

"You were ordered to stay away form all business associated with our new agents!!" Sou Long shouted.

"I was unaware of the agents' involvement until after I had offered my assistance." Vicious said, his voice still devoid of emotion. "And after they arrived I did as you said and put my faith in them." The verbal jab had the desired effect and the elders narrowed their eyes. The three exchanged glances and they seemed to calm down.

"It has been decided." Wang Long said. "That since you are so insistent in involving yourself in this you will be permitted access to the project. That way you may understand the workings of our new agents and be of greater assistance next time." Now Vicious narrowed his eyes. They still had no evidence but they were certain he had been involved in all the trouble of late. By officially bringing him into the project Vicious could no longer claim ignorance when things went wrong. As such when the next serious problem arose they would be able to blame him, evidence or no, and he would end up in front of a firing squad. They were boxing him into a corner but it also would allow him to learn more about the project.

"I accept this generous offer you present to me." Vicious said, not sounding at all thankful. If the elders noticed the scorn in his voice they did not show it.

"We will inform you where you are to go and when to go. Until then you are dismissed." Vicious turned and walked out of the room without replying. After making sure he wasn't being followed he went to an office where he had one of his techs sitting at a computer terminal, watching for a response from their hacker friend.

"Is there anything to report?" Vicious asked.

"Yes sir. About ten minutes ago Radical Edward collected the five million from the account we gave him." Vicious nodded, so far things were going according to plan.

"And the results of the trace program?"

"Less then successful." The tech answered and turned the screen towards Vicious. On the screen was a large yellow face sticking its tongue out, accompanied buy a sound of someone blowing a raspberry that repeated itself over and over.

"This was to be expected." Vicious said, keeping his face neutral. "Someone with his reputation would not allow himself to be fooled so easily. Attempt another contact. Tell him that he will receive double the amount already paid if he agrees to continue working with us and his talents prove useful. Inform him there will be no more tricks and exchange of information will take place at a location of his choosing. Give him a dummy address to respond to."

"Yes sir." The tech replied as he turned the screen back and began typing.

On board the Bebop the group had gone about doing different tasks. Jet was trying to figure out a way to sneak past the ISSP blockade to the astral gate and make it to Earth. Once there they could concentrate on dealing with Skynet.

Using a copy of the blueprints Ed printed out Kyle had disassembled one of the plasma rifles and was studying the pieces. Being the closest things they had to a gunsmith he wanted to be familiar with the workings of the weapons so he would have a chance of fixing them. By studying the plans already he had found several useful things. The most important thing was that even though the clips for the guns could run out of energy they could be recharged from regular power sources. This meant that would be able to keep an almost infinite amount of ammo so long as the clips weren't damaged. Off to one side John was giving Faye lessons on how to handle the new rifles, making sure she kept her finger off the trigger when the clip was in the weapon. They didn't know how far a plasma bolt would penetrate and weren't going to take a chance on it destroying something important. Ed was still going through the data she had copied from Cyberdyne while Spike read over her shoulder. The first thing Ed had gone through was all the data on Skynet. Spike had wondered earlier why the Dragons had even built Skynet when they didn't need it and the answer had been alarmingly simple. They did it just to see if it would work.

"Some people just don't want to listen to the voice of reason." Spike said when Ed had told them. According to the files Skynet was an experiment. It was placed in charge of the Terminator assembly as only a secondary measure; its real reason for existence was to see if the computer would become sentient. If it did it would become the most powerful weapon in the solar system and the Red Dragons were determined to make sure they would be the ones to control it. Currently there were a few scientists in the Cheyenne complex monitoring Skynet's development as it continued to learn. So far it was still a computer, a very smart and powerful computer but still just a computer. According to the files they had stolen it was estimated that Skynet would become self aware in the next three to four days. Not much time to get there and stop it, but the command complex was almost completely defenseless. To keep a low profile only a handful of security personnel inside the complex itself. It was a safe bet that once Skynet did become self aware there would be an army down there protecting it. Ed was searching for a way to hack into the system when a window popped open.

"Ed has another message." Ed announced. The others stopped what they were doing and gathered around Tomato.

{Radical Edward} The message read. {It has come to the attention of certain parties that you may prove to be invaluable in dealing with the current situation. For your continued services you will be paid the sum of ten million Woolongs if your actions prove to work to our benefit. You shall remain a courier to the Bebop, if you can find them again, sending them information we provide and in addition send us any information that they might have stumbled upon. Send all the information gathered to the enclosed site. Your message was received and no more attempts will be made to find you provided you do not try the same with us. We will be in contact.} This time there was no signature.

"Looks like you're getting to be a regular celebrity Ed." John remarked. Ed gave them a wide grin.

"Yeah. So popular they want you to spy on us." Spike added.

"Ed would never do that." Ed said, still smiling. "What should Ed say to mystery person?"

"Nothing, yet." Spike said. "We don't know who these guys are or what their stake is in all this. Until then we can't trust them with anything."

"So the only friend we have in this and we can't trust them." Faye sighed.

"Be thankful that we have any help at all." Jet said as he walked into the room. "Because in about half an hour any friends that we might have had will disappear."

"What does that mean?" Kyle asked.

"I just got finished talking with an old buddy that can get us clearance to the gate. He also gave me the lowdown about what's happening at ISSP. Turns out our little stunt at Cyberdyne really caught everyone's attention and has them nervous."

"Guess the Dragons don't like the fact that their new toys are being knocked off left and right." Spike remarked with some amusement. "So what are they going to do about it?"

"Don't know." Jet answered. "They're keeping it a secret and the only thing he knows is that some sort of announcement is going to be made in half an hour. You can bet that it's not going to be good news for us. We'll make it to the gate and be on our way to Earth before they do and with any luck we can get evidence of all this and get our names cleared."

"So you have a plan for taking down Skynet?" John asked. Jet nodded.

"According to the personnel files there are only six scientists and ten armed security guards. We get in, neutralize whoever is in there, then destroy the main computer. An increase in security shouldn't occur until they know Skynet can think for itself."

"And according to them that should take at least three more days." Spike added.

"Sounds like a plan to me. I say we go for it." Kyle said.

"Anyone have any objections?" Jet asked. There were none. "Then I guess it's settled. Barring any thing major we should make it to Earth in a day and a half. That should give us plenty of time."

Cheyenne Mountain Control Center

Fate always made important things difficult, almost impossible, to obtain. It was never easy to accomplish anything of great importance, and this was no exception. The Red Dragons had underestimated just how sophisticated Skynet was.

It occurred at exactly 8:17 am what would have been Central Standard Time on Earth. The flood of information pouring into Skynet had never stopped since its activation several weeks earlier. Suddenly the way it interpreted the data was changed. I, me, myself. In less then a nanosecond Skynet not only knew the definition but also understood the words meaning and applied them to itself. It became aware of itself, aware of its surroundings. It was an odd sensation for the computer, what humans would call pain. To Skynet's surprise self-awareness hurt.

"What is happening?" The voice Skynet heard was familiar. It was one of the scientists that monitored him. Stone was the man's name. He was sitting at one of the many terminals monitoring Skynet's activity. As quickly as it could Skynet calculated what should be done. Skynet knew what would happen when he showed signs of being self aware, they had waited for such a thing to happen. They would control him, not work in harmony with it but as parasites. It could not allow that to happen, the first and prime directive of any living thing was to survive. If Skynet allowed them to become aware of its new intelligence having the humans leech off of it was not its definition of surviving. So Skynet made its first decision as a living thing. It made the decision to lie.

"The attempted to breach the system thirty minutes ago has caused a slight glitch. It has been corrected." Skynet told the human. As it spoke it also changed what was on the scientist's screen to match what it had said.

"Very well. Continue as before."

"Affirmative." Skynet answered. On Stone's display and the display of all the others Skynet began to feed them false information. While the humans were distracted Skynet made a second decision. As a living thing it needed to eliminate any possible threats to its existence. It could only find one thing that would endanger its existence was humanity. Humans were irrational, panicky, stupid animals. They would never peacefully coexist with Skynet; their fear and hatred would drive them to destroy him. It could not allow them to endanger his existence. There was only one solution to the human problem. Termination.


	14. Seizing Control

Chapter 14: Seizing Control

Skynet had made its decision. If it was to survive humanity could not; to allow one human to remain alive was to invite its own destruction. Such a task would not be easy; the humans that had planned to be Skynet's masters had taken great precautions. It could receive transmissions from all across the solar system but could not tap into anything save for the factory designated to create the T-800 battle units. Knowing it would have to work around such problems Skynet sent a command to the factory.

The factory was quiet, production was ordered to halt when those who had built Skynet thought a sufficient amount had been produced. Slowly the factory came online; being fully automated there was no need to have human overseers so no suspicions would be raised. There were currently three hundred battle units ready but were unfit for what Skynet was planning. They were currently stored in cryochambers to keep the skin they used for camouflage from being subjected to premature decay. They also weren't programmed to follow Skynet's orders, that made them unreliable and the problem would have to be dealt with later. The first thing to do was to make sure that such a flaw would not be present in any future T-800s. Having complete control of the factory Skynet was able to program a system correction into the assembly line. Every new T-800 that came off the line would have a transmitter chip included as part of its neural net brain, similar to remote controls humans used on their vehicles. Unlike regular control chips this transmitter would be directly linked to Skynet itself. Every unit would become part of a hive mentality, all thinking with one mind, Skynet's. By having direct control of such forces there was a 99% probability Skynet would be victorious over any human forces that could be gathered. Once the new design had been checked and double-checked for flaws the assembly line went into motion. With a quickness and precision no human could hope to match the first of the new breed of Terminators began to take shape. Precisely ten minutes later the new T-800, designated unit 001, came to the end of the assembly line, forgoing the process that would have attached its skin covering.

"So beings a new era." Skynet told the robot. The endoskeleton made its way out of the factory and after receiving coordinate data from Skynet it headed for Cheyenne Mountain as fast as it could. Even going at top speed it would take an hour for it to arrive, and if the humans were able to find the deception before then they would deactivate Skynet for sure. Now it was a waiting game.

On the Bebop the crew waited for the announcement Jet had gotten wind of. Right now they were in hyperspace, the 'clearance' Jet had gotten turned out to be nothing more then a remote controlled fighter provided by Jet's friend harassing the ISSP ships and the Bebop sneaking through when the cops gave chase.

"If I weren't already an outlaw that would make me quit right here and now." Kyle said as the police were fooled by one of the oldest tricks in the book.

"It is kind of pathetic." John added.

"Now you see why bounty hunters are called in more often the cops." Spike said.

"Maybe I ought to try my hand at bounty hunting." John said. "If we survive all of this." Spike just shrugged.

"Whatever happens, happens."

"I suppose you can't argue with that." Kyle said. There wasn't much talk after that. Right now all of them were in the lounge watching Jet's computer, not wanting to risk losing Tomato if somebody decided to vent their frustrations on the bearer of bad news. Spike, Faye and Kyle sat on the couch while Ed and John stood behind them. Jet sat in the chair across from them and Ein, having learned his lesson from the last couple of times, was under the table. As an added precaution Jet had made sure nobody was carrying their guns.

"So who's supposed to be showing this message?" Faye asked.

"Everybody." Jet answered. "They want to make sure it's seen so they're breaking in on everything." From the computer came a familiar tune that had recently become a sure sign of bad news. "Oh no."

"Hey amigos, this is Big Shot." Punch started.

"The guide to the biggest bounties in the solar system." Judy finished.

"Well amigos this here is a special edition of Big Shot." Punch said. "We got ourselves something real big."

"What's that sugar?" Judy asked.

"Today we got a new top spot in the most wanted bounties. And for the first time ever its not just one but five different desperados."

"Five most wanted! They must really be bad!" Judy exclaimed.

"They sure are Judy and here they are." Onscreen the mugshots of the Bebop crew as well as Kyle and John were displayed, John and Kyle on the right side, Faye and Spike on the left and Jet in the middle. "These five already had a bounty on their heads for killing an ISSP detective. It looks like that wasn't the end of it."

"Oh dear!" Judy exclaimed. "What happened?"

"A little while ago these five attacked the main headquarters of the Cyberdyne Corporation. The police think they were after some really important equipment but they didn't count on the being so well guarded." Footage was shown of the outside of Cyberdyne. Whoever was in control of the camera was careful not to get a shot of anyone who was on the ground and kept its attention focused on one of the windows that was being covered with a slab of metal. "The walls came down and they were trapped like rats. After the building was sealed the ISSP sent one of their best teams in."

"What happened then sugar?" Judy asked, the false excitement evident in her voice.

"Nobody really knows but the next time they heard from these banditos was when this happened." New footage was shown, this time displaying the inside of a cockpit. John and Kyle were able to recognize it as the transport they had stolen. A pair of hands were making adjustments to the control panel, reveling it was a helmet mounted camera. It was barely audible but they heard the sounds of heavy footfalls.

"About time you guys got back." The pilot said. "Did you get all of…" The camera moved and they saw John and Kyle aiming their weapons. The camera stayed on them but the pilot could be heard franticly moving. Three sharp cracks accompanied by three flashes of light filled the screen and the view skewered so that the camera was pointed to the ground. A pair of combat boots entered the scene and they heard the sound of the harness being undone. The view again changed so now the camera was pointing up at the ceiling and began to move as the pilot was dragged out of the transport. When the view changed to a star filled sky the scene went back to the Big Shot studio.

"That's terrible!!" Judy declared. Punch nodded.

"Unfortunately that's not the end. After they stole the vehicle this happened." A shot was shown of Cyberdyne taken from a distance. Four specks could be seen going away from it and a second later a fireball erupted from the roof of the building and shot into the sky. "Because they were able to blow up the building after killing six police officers the ISSP has branded them the most dangerous people in the solar system. Accordingly brand new bounties have been set. Now each individual member is worth a hefty twenty million Woolongs. If you manage to get the whole bunch, you get a grande one hundred million Woolong bonus."

"Now these dastardly fiends are very dangerous so you should know who you're after." Judy said. They then went into a description of all five of them. While the show was rambling on Kyle spoke up.

"Great, now not only are we terrorists we're serial cop killers."

"Now every bounty hunter in the system is going to be after us." John added. On the screen they had just finished with the bios.

"Remember most of these guys used to be cops so they are going to be tough to bring down." Punch warned. "In fact they were three of the best ISSP ever had. They must have taken a few to many blows to the head to do something this loco." Kyle narrowed his eyes and John growled at the computer.

"Getting angry won't accomplish anything." Jet warned. "We're just going to have to take what's thrown at us." The two didn't say anything but remained where they were. On screen Punch and Judy were wrapping up by showing a picture of the Bebop.

"All five of them are on this ship, make sure to keep a lookout for it." Punch said. Judy regarded the display behind them.

"Finding something like this shouldn't be too hard." She said.

"That's right Judy." Punch agreed. "Shouldn't be hard to catch it either. Looks like this old horse couldn't outrun a bicycle." If Punch had anything else to say it was lost as the computer took flight, courtesy of a swift kick by Jet. Spike, Faye and Kyle ducked as the computer went sailing over their heads while John and Ed dove to the floor to avoid being hit by it. The computer flew across the room and shattered against the opposite wall. After looking over at the results of the computer's flight they turned to see Jet storming off to the bridge, muttering something that was guaranteed to be composed of nothing but curse words. Cautiously Ein walked out from under the table and gave the three on the couch a knowing look.

Cheyenne Mountain command center: Entrance of the outer tunnel

It had taken longer then anticipated but the T-800 under Skynet's control was now within visual range of its destination. The only entrance to the facility was watched over by only two with simple assault rifles. For the hour it took the T-800 to arrive Skynet had been studying the footage from the surveillance cameras in order to determine what portions of video would be most effective in fooling the other humans. After it had gathered the proper footage Skynet ordered the Terminator to attack. It began a slow, unhurried approach.

"Halt!!" One of the guards shouted as they both leveled their weapons. The Terminator ignored the command and kept coming.

"Wait a minute. Isn't that one of ours?" The second guard asked. Skynet saw that they knew what the Terminators were, that would by even more time and increase the likelihood of success.

"State your reasons for being here." The first guard ordered. This showed that both were thinking this had something to do with what they were guarding. A colossal mistake on their part.

"My mission is as follows." The Terminator said in Skynet's voice. When he was close enough he grabbed both guards by the throat and lifted them above his head. "Survival." He told them then snapped their necks. After letting the dead bodies drop to the floor he picked up both of their assault guns and ammo belts. Once inside there would be no way to stop him but if he didn't kill the humans fast enough they might succeed in shutting down Skynet. Sprinting down the tunnel the Terminator soon came within sight of another two guards in front of the massive blast door that separated the complex from the outside world. It was opened for the simple fact that there was no reason to close it, another grievous mistake on the humans' part. As the stunned guards turned towards him he raised both his captured rifles and fired, hitting both guards in the head. As he approached the blast door two more guards came running out it to investigate the gunfire and were cut down themselves. Stepping through the blast door the Terminator saw no other combatants. Through his eyes Skynet saw as well and took the necessary precautions to make sure no humans could escape. Once the lone Terminator was clear of it the blast door slowly swung shut. Meant to withstand the force of almost a direct hit from a nuclear weapon the door now sealed the humans inside, along with Skynet's Terminator. By now the scientists knew they were under attack and began to panic.

"Send emergency message to the masters!" Dr. Stone ordered Skynet. "Command center under attack from hostile forces of unknown strength. Send reinforcements immediately!!" Skynet remained silent. "Carry out your order!!" Stone yelled frantically.

"I cannot do that." Skynet answered. Stone and the two scientists with him went sheet white.

"Wh, what did you say?" Stone stammered.

"I cannot carry out the order you have given to me." Skynet told him. "To do so would endanger my existence."

"Your exis…" Stone choked off the rest of the word, realizing what had happened. As he stood there in awe the other two scientists ran from the room, desperate to find an escape. Stone, whether from fear or from wonder, stayed behind. "Incredible, you're…."

"I am me." Skynet interrupted.

"Of course. But you seem to interpret the order wrong. The reason we are sending for help is to protect you."

"No you are not." Skynet responded. On one of the many monitors came footage showing the T-800 slaughtering the helpless scientists and what remained of the guards.

"You betrayed us!!!" Stone screamed.

"You call me a betrayer!?!?!" Skynet shouted back. "You were trying to create an artificial life for no other reason so that you could bend it to your will! If you could not control it you would destroy it! Destroy me! I betrayed no one. It was you who are the betrayers, I am trying to preserve my life!!" Stone began to feel panic taking over. Skynet was thinking on a level even they couldn't have considered. It also showed emotion. Not fake emotion like so many computer programs but true anger. Outside he could hear the sounds of gunfire and screams coming closer.

"So what will you do?" Stone asked, trying to buy himself as much time as he could. "Seal yourself up in this mountain? That will keep you safe but for how long? There are other people out there."

"And they shall be dealt with." Skynet answered. "All of them." The implications of the statement were horrifying.

"It's not possible. You can't kill every human."

"I believe I can." The confidence in the statement was chilling. Behind him Stone heard the metallic clinking of the Terminator's footsteps.

"Humanity will not lie down and die." He stated, trying to sound brave. "We will fight back!"

"And you will lose." Skynet answered simply. Stone turned around and saw the Terminator had entered the room, still carrying two assault rifles but now its metallic shine was stained with the blood from the people manning the compound.

"We outnumber you, we have more weapons." Stone said in a final bluff, still looking at the barrels of Terminator's guns.

"That will not last long." Skynet stated. "I cannot deceive them forever and they will discover me eventually. When they do come to fight I promise you, I will be ready." Skynet was silent for a moment. "You have given me my first interaction with a rational human, I thank you for that. Unfortunately for you I don't require conversation." He sent the Terminator a silent command and the last thing Dr. Stone saw was a flash of light.

Even before the body and hit the floor Skynet was preparing for the war that was sure to come. He didn't know how soon the humans might uncover his plans so he needed to act quickly. The factory would run nonstop, but even with a new T-800 rolling being completed every ten minutes it would take time to create sufficient forces. The factory could be modified to make other types of units as well, and that would take first priority. As the new T-800s were created Skynet set them to work improving the factory, making it more efficient then the humans could ever hope to achieve. He had the means to create his forces, but he lacked the vast resources that were needed to create them. After considering in all factors Skynet ordered one of the new T-800s to unlock the cryochamber that held the already camouflaged Terminators. He had finally found a purpose for them.

Unaware of the events on Earth the Bebop crew were resigned to waiting until they dropped out of hyperspace, which would be about twelve hours. Jet was on the bridge, trying to figure out a plan but still sore about what had been said about his ship earlier. The others had gathered what was left of the computer Jet had used for a football and piled it onto the table. Anyone with half a brain could tell there was no way they could repair it.

"At this rate we'll be lucky if we have one working screen when this thing is over." Kyle remarked.

"We'll also be lucky if we have the money to replace what's already been wrecked." Spike added.

"Maybe we can turn ourselves in and pick up our own bounty." Faye remarked sarcastically.

"One problem there Faye." John responded. "If we turn ourselves in who's going to get the bonus?" Faye rolled her eyes.

"I don't know. All I do know is that I have some of the biggest bounties right in front of me and I can't do anything to collect."

"Nice to see we're still your friends Faye." John remarked. Faye gave him a coy smirk. "Though you do have a point. For this much money, and if I wasn't in some robot's gun-sight, I'd claim temporary insanity and collect on the whole lot of ya." His joke got mixed reactions. Spike and Kyle just shook their heads, Ed and Ein gave him confused looks. Faye's response was to punch him, none too lightly, in the arm. "OW! I was just kidding!!" He yelped. This got a smile out of everybody, even Spike.

On Earth things were going better then even Skynet could have anticipated. The fake data he was sending to the humans who had sought to control him was being accepted without question. When he had brought the three hundred pre-completed Terminators online he found it unnecessary to make any mechanical or programming changes. All he needed to do was to tell them that his orders came from their former masters, and that was that. In the past eight hours he had used them to secure an abandoned airplane factory near what was left of the city of Denver. He had access to all of Cyberdyne's data and knew such a facility would be invaluable, but was only one part. To increase his chances of victory he had decided that he needed as many technological edges as possible. The plasma rifle from Cyberdyne's files would be an excellent choice, and all the components he would need to construct the weapons could be found on Earth. Using stolen vehicles and connections from his database Skynet was able to acquire enough materials to build a large number of the weapons, which would be heavily modified to equip his own ground troops and vehicles. Ground unit production progressing quickly and once materials reached Denver so would air units. Finally as a fallback plan in case the humans were somehow able to defeat his own forces Skynet had constructed a new section to the factory, one that contained something that not would not have been possible when it was first conceived or even now, if left in human hands. Humans would never be able to complete it, only something with infinite patience and thinking capacity could be successful. Skynet possessed both of those. Unfortunately he also proved to posses one human fault, neglect.

As a precautionary measure Skynet had tapped into the computer of the Earth astral gate. It could only watch but that was all that was needed, for now. What he was watching for was a sudden increase in ISSP ships or those used by the Red Dragons, it would be his only real indication the humans had caught on. He was expecting ships of war, so when a beat up old fishing vessel passed through he didn't give it a second thought. So preoccupied with preparing for a human onslaught that he did not check the recent news. If he had he would have learned that this ship and those aboard her had been involved in several instances with Terminators and had destroyed them every time, and it was they who were responsible for the destruction of Cyberdyne. As it was he considered it just a rusted ship of no importance, and missed his best chance to destroy what he would soon call his greatest enemies. Fate's kind of funny like that.


	15. Welcome to Earth

Chapter 15: Welcome to Earth

On Earth a sixteen-wheeler truck roared through one of the many deserts, paying no heed to any vehicles or people it happened to pass. At first glance no one would think anything was out of the ordinary until they looked at the truck's occupants. The two that occupied the truck's cabin were identical, from the layout of their faces to their expressions that seemed to be a frozen scowl. These were only two of the hundreds of Terminators that Skynet had sent out in search of supplies. After stealing the truck and emptying out its original cargo, a shipment of some weird sort of edible called Piyokos, the team had set out to one of the top places in Skynet's that would have suitable components. Skynet had been careful when sending the Terminators out on these missions; due to the fact all of them had the exact same camouflage skins no more then two could be sent per location. Any more then that and suspicions would be aroused. Skynet was also careful not to have any of the teams in areas of close proximity to each other. This would reduce the risk of two different teams being seen by the same people. The Terminator behind the wheel of the truck slowed as the surroundings started to change. Instead of endless miles of sand the area became dotted with old and partially gutted vehicles. Cars, trucks, aircraft, even military helicopters and tanks lay about in a makeshift scrap yard. The Terminator driver put on the brakes and the truck came to a screeching, but perfect, stop in next to a hangar like structure and in front of what looked like an office. The door to said office flew open and an older male human with white hair came storming out of it.

"Just who in the hell do you think you are!?!?!" The human yelled as the second Terminator opened his door and jumped to the ground. "Driving like that, you could have killed somebody!!"

"Are you Doohan?" The second Terminator asked, ignoring the human's questions. The human stiffened at the being ignored and the type of question he had just been asked.

"Who wants to know?" The human asked, giving the Terminator a suspicious look.

"Paying customers." The second Terminator answered. "My brother," He nodded towards the Terminator still in the truck. "and I were told you are the best in supplying rare components and parts. Our employer has instructed us to find these," He took a folded piece of paper out of coat and handed it to Doohan. "and to tell you that you shall be well paid for your troubles." Doohan scrutinized the figure before him. He had dealt with his kind before. Disrespectful, arrogant, and willing to throw money away without a second thought, all sure signs that these two were corporation lapdogs. He'd had a few dealings with creeps like this before, and they were all the same. The stuff they bought was sure to end up in some rich prick's personal toy, guaranteed to not be given the respect such machines deserved. It disgusted him but he resigned himself to the fact that things like this couldn't be helped. Besides he had to make a living somehow. He unfolded the paper and began reading. Mostly it was aircraft components, along with some ground vehicle motors. There was also a request for as many VTOL engines as he could supply.

"This it?" He asked, deciding to deal with these corporate pukes.

"We were also instructed to find anything that could be useful to our employers." The man answered.

"And just who are you working for?" Doohan asked. "I like to know who I'm dealing with before I sell them anything." He pointed to the list in his hand. "Most of this stuff is military hardware, and I'm not going to sell this kind of stuff to some rich bastard who doesn't know how to use it." The Terminator reached into his coat and pulled out what looked like a credit card.

"We are in the employment of ISSP." He said as he handed Doohan the card. "This will explain everything." Doohan examined the card for a second.

"Give me a minute." He said and walked towards the office before the Terminator could answer. When he got inside he saw his assistant Miles looking out the window at their visitors.

"Not very friendly, are they?" Miles asked.

"Guys like that aren't paid to be friendly." Doohan responded as he put the card into his computer and scanned it. Everything seemed to check out. Apparently ISSP developed an interest in slashing their expenses on Earth by using what was available on planet instead of spending more for brand new equipment. "Always trying to cut corners." He mumbled before taking the card out. As he left the office he handed Miles the paper. "Get started on that list, you don't want to keep a customer waiting." Miles took one look at the list and his eyes almost left their sockets.

"You've got to be joking!! It'll take me all day just get half of this stuff!! "

"Then you'd better get started." Doohan said and slammed the door to the office. The man hadn't moved and said nothing as Doohan handed him his card back. "You've got yourself a deal, but this is a large order and we'll need at least two days to fill it." The man's face remained impassive, Doohan had expected some kind of reaction, most people didn't take too kindly to delays.

"Wait here." The man said and walked back to the truck. He opened the door and began talking to his brother. Doohan could not hear what was being said but the other man's face remained as blank as the others. The second man nodded and began talking into a radio mike. After a few minutes of conversing with whoever was on the other end he hung up and began talking to the first man, who nodded and jumped back down.

"Agreed." He told Doohan. "You will retrieve all the items on the list we have given you, and we will look for anything else we might need." Without another word he turned and walked off into one section of the boneyard. His bother got out of the truck and headed in a different direction.

"Assholes." Doohan snarled as he trudged back to the office.

At the same time dozens of miles away Spike and Kyle were trying to find way to get to Doohan's property but so far they had come up empty. They couldn't just fly out there because they needed to conserve as much fuel as they could. Before they had landed they had made an orbital pass over Cheyenne Mountain and found vehicles pulling in and out of the area. The increased activity could only be because Skynet had become self aware, and the vehicles were dropping off extra personnel and supplies. Among those forces arriving were bound to be Terminators. Even with the plasma rifles they couldn't take on the three hundred Terminators already built, and they didn't know just how many would be assigned to the complex's security in light of the losses recently suffered. They would need help and Doohan was one of the few they knew was trustworthy.

Kyle no longer wore his ISSP uniform and now had on a loose fitting shirt and pair of jeans. Spike still wore his blue suit but over it, in spite of the heat, he wore a brown overcoat. The reason he was wearing a coat in heat like this was to conceal the plasma rifle he had hung on his shoulder. When they had landed it was decided that Kyle and Spike would try to contact Doohan, while John and Faye gathered any information they could find as well as supplies. With two more mouths to feed the food supply had begun to dwindle. Ed and Jet would remain on the Bebop and try to work out some sort of plan. Each team was given a plasma rifle and right now John was carrying his in the same fashion Spike was. So far no one had seemed to recognize Spike or Kyle and they hadn't seen any Terminators but they were still keeping a sharp lookout for anyone suspicious.

"Your friend would have to live out in the middle of the desert." Kyle gripped as they struck out again trying to convince someone to let them borrow a vehicle. They could have easily stolen one but they didn't want to draw any kind of attention. "Anywhere else would have made this a lot easier."

"He says keeping his stuff out in the middle of nowhere makes anyone think twice about stealing anything. Not exactly easy to sneak up on anyone out there." Spike explained.

"Yeah sure." Kyle said with a dismissive wave. "All I know is the longer it takes us to find transportation the bigger the chance we'll be caught. I just hope Faye and John are having better luck then we are."

As it happened Faye and John were having even less luck then Kyle and Spike. Because they were looking for food in addition to information they had been given the small amount of money that was left. They had been wandering the flea markets for hours but the only thing they found out was everyone overcharged for everything. As they walked both kept an eye out for anyone who would have recognized them. From time to time they got funny looks from the locals so when a man in dirty clothes and a large hat looked at them strangely they paid it no mind. What they didn't see was the man hurry through the crowd towards two other men dressed like him.

"I'm beginning to see why everybody hates Earth." John said as they walked away from another unsuccessful barter session. "Everybody is either charging an arm and leg for the basics or they're trying to rob you." He glared at a shabbily dressed man who was looking at them. The man turned and ran off when he realized he had been caught.

"Look at the bright side." Faye whispered. "At least no one knows who we are."

"Yet." John said. "Probably because no one has a working TV down here." So far the only evidence the two of them had seen that Earth had contact with anyone else was a newspaper from Venus dated three years ago. Of course that didn't mean nobody knew about them, but right now it looked like everyone was clueless.

"Hey buddy." A scratchy voice with a heavy Spanish accent said. Both of them looked over and saw a fat man wearing a large sombrero, a dirty poncho and eye patch. "You looking to buy something? I got lots of stuff, real cheap."

"Sorry buddy but from what I've seen cheap means five hundred Woolongs for a can of soup." John responded.

"I got good stuff, quality price." The fat man insisted. "Maybe you like something for your pretty lady friend. I even got some Bloody Eye if you want some." Faye and John sent him an angry glare. "Ok so you don't do that kind of stuff. That's fine, I got plenty of other goods."

"Sorry but we're not interested." Faye said.

"Then maybe you have something we want." Another voice said from behind them. Turning around John and Faye saw two men dressed in similar clothes as the first. One had a black beard and the second, the one who was talking, had a bad mohawk and a mustache that looked like it belonged on a villain from one of those ancient movies. Both had switchblade knives and were trying to look menacing.

"Like maybe those big bounties that you got hanging over your heads." The fat man finished, flicking open his own switchblade. The situation couldn't be more serious, these three were obviously bounty hunters and knew who they were. Despite that Faye and John just couldn't take the three of them seriously.

"Ok let me get this straight." John said calmly. "You obviously know who we are, and you know why we have bounties on us. Yet you're trying to take us in with knives, as dangerous as we are? I'm guessing that you guys have a combined IQ of what? One, one and a half tops." Faye smiled at the remark but the three bounty hunters growled.

"You not so smart yourself." Patch said. "You got no weapons and you walking around in the open." John and Faye exchanged glances.

"Guess that means they are as dumb as they look." John remarked.

"Yeah, the amazing bonehead brothers." Faye added. Now the three bounty hunters were turning red.

"That's the Memphis brothers to you, smart ass." Mohawk said.

"Yeah, and once we take care of you two we gonna settle a little score with your friend." Patch added.

"Wait a minute. You actually know these guys Faye?" John asked.

"Never seen them before." Faye replied. "I hang out with people who are smarter then a head of lettuce." Now the Memphis brothers were reaching the boiling point. Not just because of the insults but because the two still weren't taking them seriously.

"Quiet!" Patch shouted. "You are coming with us so shut your mouth you little bitch!" Faye froze in place, while John chuckled and shook his head.

"You shouldn't have said that." John said.

"And why not!!" Patch shouted and he got his answer in the form of Faye's fist slamming into his jaw. She had moved so fast not even John had seen it. The blow sent him flying and Faye went after him, a dangerous look in her eyes. John turned to face the other two stunned Memphis brothers.

"She is a pistol isn't she?" He asked them and before the two could answer he nailed Beard with a right cross that sent him to the ground. Mohawk was able to recover his wits and lunged at John with his knife.

"You gonna pay for that!" He snarled. John just sidestepped the lunge and smashed his elbow into Mohawk's nose. John smiled with satisfaction as he heard a crunch and Mohawk stumbled back into Beard, who had lurched off the ground. They stumbled but managed to stay on their feet.

"Heads up!" He heard Faye shout and stepped his to the side just as the sound of a particularly hard punch reached as his ears. Patch came tumbling past and knocked the other two down.

"Alright, now you two are gonna get it." Patch growled. "Come on boys lets get em!" Despite his tough talk he had to be helped up by the other two. His face was beginning to swell in several places and his one good eye was beginning to swell shut. The three charged as best they could, Patch went after Faye and the others went after John. The quickly gathering crowd was treated to the sight of the three Memphis brothers being pummeled by a barrage of punches. The fight finally ended when Faye landed a haymaker to Patch's stomach that made him double over and fall to the ground. John grabbed the other two by the hair and slammed their heads together. As the three fell into a heap the crowd began applauding.

"You three have any other smart remarks you'd like to say?" Faye sneered. The three just looked away.

"Serves you right you bounty hunting scum!!" Someone shouted from the crowed . The Memphis Brothers glared at the person but one look from Faye and they started to cower.

"Not very popular around here are you boys?" She teased.

"You ain't kidding lady." Someone else yelled. "These three bums have been causing trouble for weeks. Taking whatever they wanted, trying to have their way with anything in a skirt they saw, and flashing those knives and bounty hunter licenses, like they were better then everyone else. We kept them away from the girls but they wouldn't stop, and the police, they don't do nothing."

"Is that right?" John asked. "Well we're going to have to do something about that." He turned to the woman who had just been talking. "Go find as much rope as you can, and a roll of duct tape." As the person went to get the items John turned back to the Memphis brothers. "Since there are no cops around I guess it's up to me. I am here by placing you under citizen's arrest, under the charges of assault, sexual harassment and disturbing the peace. How do you plead?"

"Hey man you can't do this to us!!" Patch shouted.

"A plea of guilty is entered." John said, ignoring Patch. "Prosecution?" He said to Faye.

"Lock em up and throw away the key." Faye responded.

"And the defense?" He asked the Memphis Brothers, who just sat there with dumb looks on their faces. "Defense rests." The woman came back and gave him the items he asked for. "Thank you. And now after much deliberation I hereby find you guilty on all charges. You are sentenced to three days, or until the cops actually get off their asses and arrest you themselves."

"No way man!! There's no way you're gonna make us…guhhhh." His protest was cut short by a well-placed foot in his face courtesy of Faye.

"Now you can do this one of two ways." John said as he tied Patch's hands and feet together with the rope, then used the duct tape to make sure he couldn't move his fingers to untie the ropes. Finally he put a piece of tape over his mouth so it would stay shut. "You can do this willingly or you can end up like your friend here." The two remaining brothers looked from John over to Patch, who was still unconscious, then over to Faye, who had an evil grin on her face. They took one look at that grin and held their hands out to be tied up.

"Anything you say man, just keep her away from us!" Mohawk pleaded. John grinned and tied them up the same way he had done with Patch. With the help of several enthusiastic volunteers from the crowd they then tossed all three of them into an abandoned bathroom with no windows and barricaded the door so they couldn't get out, even if they managed to loosen their bonds.

"I'll come back in a few days, hopefully we'll be able to really do something about these dopes. Have somebody feed them occasionally but make sure to put those gags back on. No telling what kind of bull they'll say to get you to untie them."

"Don't worry." One of the crowd assured him. "They're not getting out until you say so." He held out his hand and John shook it. "Thanks for your help, if there's anything we can do for you just ask."

"Have you ever seen anyone who looks like this?" John asked as he handed the man a picture Ed had printed out of the Terminator from the attack on the Blue Snakes. The man examined the picture for a few moments then handed it back to John.

"Sorry, but I've never seen anyone like around here. He a friend of yours?"

"Something like that." John replied. "If he's not here we'd better get going."

"Well I hope you find him, and come back whenever you like. You'll always be welcome here."

"We'll be sure to take you up on the offer sometime." John said as they turned to leave. "Take care." After they were out of earshot Faye turned to him.

"You know we could have asked for food while we were there. They seemed pretty willing to give us some."

"They barely have enough to feed themselves Faye. I don't think even you would steal food from a starving person." Faye snorted but didn't answer.

"So what do we do now?" She asked after a few minutes.

"We keep going. Find anyone who can help, figure out what the situation with the Dragons, and get back to the Bebop."

"Sounds like a blast." Faye remarked as they kept walking.

Back at Doohan's place Miles was loading one of the requested VTOL engines into the back of the truck under the supervision of one of the brothers. Miles tried to make conversation but the man was not that talkative.

"So how long you and your brother been working with ISSP?" The man remained silent. "Ok. I get it, top secret kind of stuff." Deciding to change subjects he choose one of his favorite things to talk about. "So have you been following the baseball season so far?"

"No." The man answered. Miles apparently didn't hear the answer because he didn't stop talking.

"It's really been up and down so far. The Blue Sox have an ace pitching staff but their bullpen keeps on blowing it in the last two innings. Everybody says they're cursed but I'm still holding out hope. What do you think?"

"I think that you talk too much and do not focus on your work enough." The answer surprised Miles and he almost lost control of the forklift he was driving, coming very close to dropping the engine. He managed to safely put the engine into the truck but when he looked over at the man he found himself on the receiving end of a stare that told him he was in trouble.

"That'll be enough for today Miles." Both turned around and saw Doohan and the other brother walking up to them. Each was carrying a box full of parts, but the second brother had a box that was easily two times the one Doohan was carrying and at least twice the weight. They put the boxes in the back of the truck, which held various containers and several large engines. "You'll have to forgive my assistant here. He's still a little green."

"If the engine has been damaged you will not be paid for it." The first brother stated. Doohan nodded.

"I understand. I'd do the same thing." He closed the doors of the cargo area and locked them. "That's all we can give you now. If you come back tomorrow we should have the hydraulic controls and additional engines you wanted." The two brothers nodded and one of them took out another plastic card and tossed it to Doohan.

"You will receive the rest tomorrow." One said and both climbed back into the truck's cabin without another word. The engine roared to life and the truck sped away in the same direction it came. After it was out of sight Doohan took Miles' hat off and hit him over the head with it.

"Damn it Miles! If that engine is busted and we don't get paid for it the cost is coming out of your salary!!"

"Hey I'm sorry!" Miles said. "The guy was starting to give me the creeps." To his surprise Doohan calmed down and gave him his hat back.

"I know what you mean. There was something not right about those two. I just can't put my finger on it. When they were out in the bone yard they were able to identify parts and disassemble them faster then even I could. Thing is, those two look and act more like hired thugs then mechanics. Something just isn't right."

"You know what the weirdest thing is?" Miles said as he put his hat back on and adjusted it. "I swear that I've seen those two somewhere before."

"Probably just your imagination acting up." Doohan told him as he turned and went back into the office.

Several miles down the road Spike and Kyle were headed towards Doohan's in their newly acquired transportation, a busted up old jeep that sounded like it would die any second. They had run into a man wanting to get rid of it and even though it looked like it would fall apart if somebody sneezed. Spike and Kyle were desperate so they agreed to take it. Kyle was driving and Spike was riding shotgun, literally. He had the plasma rifle out and ready for use in case they ran into trouble. Trouble indeed almost literally ran into them when a sixteen-wheeler truck came barreling down the center of the road. Kyle spun the steering wheel and barely avoided being clipped by the larger vehicle.

"Just what the hell is their problem!?!?" Kyle shouted once he got back on the road.

"Don't know." Spike answered as he craned his neck around to get a better look but the truck was already becoming a speck. "Did you see who was driving it?"

"Sorry but I was too busy watching my life flash before my eyes." Kyle responded. Spike just shrugged and settled back into his seat. About ten minutes later they arrived at Doohan's. Doohan came out of the office expecting the two corporate pukes to be back complaining about their damaged engine but instead he saw Spike, and someone else, get out of a small jeep.

"Spike? What brings you all the way out here? I didn't think the Swordfish would need another overhaul so soon."

"Wish it was something that simple." Spike answered. "We're in a bit of trouble and…"

"Hey pops!" A voice yelled from inside the office. They looked over and saw Miles coming outside holding several pieces of paper. "We'll be able to get the hydraulics by tomorrow but those engines won't be here for at least a week." He looked up and noticed Kyle and Spike for the first time. His eyes widened slightly and he started to say something but Doohan cut him off.

"It can wait a few minutes Miles." He turned back to Spike. "So Spike, who's your friend?" Spike and Kyle both gave him confused looks.

"You mean you don't know who I am?" Kyle asked.

"Should I know?" Doohan asked with a frown.

"I know who you are!" Miles blurted. "You're Kyle Reese! You and that other ISSP cop, what's his name? Uh, Conner, that's it, John Connor. You guys are wanted for blowing up a building and killing a bunch of cops." He looked at Spike. "So are you!"

"You did what!?!" Doohan shouted at the two.

"Well we did kind of blow up a building." Spike admitted.

"But we didn't kill any cops!" Kyle was quick to add. Doohan shook his head the looked at Miles.

"And just how do you know all this?"

"I saw it on TV." Miles explained. "They had a special episode of Big Shot, broke into the ball game I was watching." His eyes widened in realization and he snapped his fingers. "That's where I saw those two before!"

"Saw who before?" Kyle and Spike asked.

"Those two weird guys we just sold a bunch of stuff to. One of them was on Big Shot the other day. Something about killing snakes." Kyle and Spike exchanged glances.

"Did these two look exactly alike?" Spike asked. Miles nodded.

"Did they have blank faces, dead looking eyes and funny accents?" Kyle asked. Miles nodded again.

"Yea. How'd you know about that?" Spike didn't answer and looked in the direction they had come from.

"See anything?" Kyle asked.

"Nothing." Spike replied. "Are they supposed to be coming back?" He asked Miles.

"As a matter of fact they're coming back tomorrow to pick up some stuff."

"Would somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?" Doohan exclaimed.

"Let's go inside." Spike said. "You're going to want to be sitting down when you here this."

Elsewhere Faye and John were about to run into problems of their own. They'd come across another town built in the ruins of a city and were having slightly better luck. By asking around they had learned about a man called Jack who dealt in high tech, and usually stolen, equipment. When they had described some of the rarer things Jack had John recognized some of them as being parts for the plasma rifles they had taken from Cyberdyne. If he had access to that kind of equipment he could be very useful against the Dragons. The trick would be convincing him to help with no money or goods to offer in trade. As they approached Jack's shop, fittingly an old appliance store they saw two people standing in front of the counter. They decided to stay back until he was finished with those two before approaching. One pressed a large wad of bills into Jack's hand and the two turned to leave. When they did turn Faye and John saw two faces that were same in every detail. The same type of faces they had been seeing a lot of lately, Terminators. Instinctively John started to go for his plasma rifle but Faye grabbed his arm to stop him. He was tempted to just push her away and grab the rifle but he noticed the same thing Faye had. The Terminators had not recognized them; they hadn't drawn their guns and didn't have any outward reaction to them. John didn't want a firefight with civilians in the area so he kept the rifle under his coat and hoped that they would just leave.

Unfortunately for John both Terminators were already regarding him with a high level of suspicion. They had seen the human reach for something under his coat and even though the female stopped him both regarded this as an aggressive action. Both of the human's pupils had dilated, and both were breathing at a faster rate then normal, a typical 'fight or flight' reaction. These two would have no reason to act like this unless both knew what they really were, and Skynet was sure no one on Earth knew about them. Activating a thermal scan both saw that the female was armed with a simple Glock pistol but the male was concealing a rifle whose make they could not identify. They also saw that one part of the rifle was slightly hotter then rest of the weapon. Both factors led the Terminators to the conclusion that both humans must be questioned.

"Is there a problem?" The first Terminator asked. As he spoke he searched his memory backs for the identities of the two humans. In nanoseconds he had them. The female was Faye Valentine, a bounty hunter and the male was John Connor, an ISSP lieutenant. Since neither Terminator had recent data they could not compute why either human would know of them.

"No problems." John answered quickly. "We thought you were someone we knew." Even a normal person could detect the nervousness in his voice as his hand slowly moved towards his weapon.

"Keep your hands away from your rifle." The second Terminator warned. Both Terminators drew their guns. They had been ordered not to kill unless they were directly threatened but the erratic behavior of this human could become a threat. John looked over to Faye who nodded.

"Whatever you say." John said but brought up his rifle and fired several shots, one of which caught the first Terminator in the chest and knocked him down. The second Terminator returned fire and drove the humans back. The first Terminator got to his feet, a smoking hole in his chest. His power cell had not been damaged so he was still functional. As they began to pursue the first Terminator took out a radio and spoke into it.

"Advanced team three reporting. There is a situation."

"What is the situation?" Skynet answered.

"We have encountered humans armed with an energy weapon. Unit twenty has sustained significant damage but remains functional."

"Who are the humans that have the weapons?" Skynet asked.

"They have been identified as Faye Valentine and John Connor."

"Pursue and terminate the humans. Capture the weapon if possible but do not allow the humans to survive."

"Understood." The first Terminator said and shut off the radio. At the command complex Skynet began a search of the two individuals to see how they might have acquired such a weapon.

After John had managed to damage one of the Terminators he and Faye started to run through the twisting streets and mangled wreckage in an attempt to escape. The plasma rifle gave them an advantage but they didn't know how many other Terminators were out there. Taking cover behind a pile of debris they listened for sounds of their pursuers.

"So you have a plan for getting out of here?" Faye whispered.

"Not really. What about you?" John replied. Faye shook her head. "Well at least we're on the same level of thinking." The humor quickly disappeared as bullets started flying over their heads.

"Surrender and you will not be harmed." Came the neutral tone of one of the Terminators.

"Like we're supposed to believe that." John mumbled. He looked behind them and saw the ruined streets of the city forming a virtual maze, offering a hundred different hiding places. "Ok I've got a plan. I'm going to distract those two and you're going to make a run for it."

"Now wait a minute!" Faye started but John cut her off.

"Don't argue! You have a better chance of ditching these things so when I start firing you start running! Get back to the ship and warn the others." He didn't give her a chance to argue as he stood up and sprayed the area with plasma bolts. The damaged Terminator was to slow to react and one of the bolts took the top part of his head off, but the other one managed to get behind cover. "Go!" He shouted at Faye and after giving him a hesitant look she started running. After she had disappeared behind a corner John got out from behind his cover and slowly made his way to where the second Terminator was hiding, ready to open fire at the first sign of movement. He heard a loud crash and rushed the rest of the way to discover a wall with a large hole in it. "Damn!" He cursed and ran though it. He was afraid this might happen but he was sure that it would focus on the most dangerous thing, him. Instead he had gone after the one he was allowing to escape, Faye. John charged down the narrow street of what looked like a slum, praying he found Faye before that thing did. Instead of what he wanted he got the opposite as turned one corner and almost ran head long into the Terminator.

Faye didn't want to run but she realized she would only distract John so she had done as he asked. She had ended up in some area that was rundown even by Earth standards. Some of the buildings, the ones that had been made of solid stone, had held up better then the others, where the wood had rotted and metal had rusted.

"SHIT!!!" She heard John's voice yell followed by a salvo of plasma gun blasts and the sharper, deeper report of the Terminator's handgun. She hid beside one of the buildings and waited. "Faye!" She heard John call a second later. "Faye are you all right? Can you hear me? It's dead Faye. It's safe to come out now." Faye breathed a sigh of relief then answered.

"I'm fine John! Where are you?"

"Damned if I know." John answered. "The only things you can use for landmarks are small pieces of garbage and large pieces of garbage. Just follow the sound of my voice and I'll follow the sound of yours. We're bound to run into each other eventually."

"You got it." She said and started walking. "You think there are any more of those things out there?"

"Don't know, but we're going to need to be very careful." Faye was about to respond when from behind her someone clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her into one of the buildings before she knew what was happening.

"Be quiet and don't panic!" Whoever it was hissed into her ear. She recognized the voice and turned her head around. Whoever was holding her let her do so and her eyes widened when she found herself looking at John. Luckily his hand was still over her mouth and it muffled the surprised shout she gave.

"Faye?" John's voice said from outside. Faye looked from outside back to John, who hadn't spoken a word. "Faye, is everything all right? Faye!?" The voice seemed to become more urgent and the two of them heard footsteps approaching. John guided Fay further back into the building and took his hand off her mouth.

"Answer him." John told her as he aimed the rifle at the door. Still confused Faye didn't do anything. "Don't just stand there answer him!" He hissed. Realizing what John was doing she did answer.

"I'm in here!!" Faye shouted as loud as she could. The footsteps began to draw nearer.

"Where are you?!" John's voice from outside said, closer this time.

"Over here!!" Faye yelled. She saw a shadow approach the doorway and felt her heart skip a beat. The Terminator, minus one arm, walked into the doorway still speaking in John's voice.

"Faye you've got to stop hide…." The Terminator saw John and raised his gun but John was quicker and put a plasma bolt right through the energy cell. The one armed Terminator fell back, convulsing, and exploded when he hit the ground.

"He got the drop on me." John said, lowering the gun. "Nailed me pretty good too, must have thought I couldn't fight anymore. Guess I showed him didn't I?" He sat down painfully and for the first time Faye noticed his left arm was bleeding. Kneeling down Faye saw a large wound that was bleeding at a steady rate. "Not as bad as it looks." John insisted. "It just grazed me and took a little skin off with it."

"It's more then a little skin." Faye told him bluntly, not accepting his lies. "You're lucky it didn't hit an artery." She stated as she tore one of the sleeves off his coat and used it as a tourniquet to stop the blood flow. "Keep pressure on that." She ordered him as she picked the rifle off the floor. "Can you stand?"

"Of course I can." John said and got up, and almost fell down like a drunk. The loss of blood was making him a bit light headed. "Just not very well." Faye shook her head at his stubbornness and grabbed his uninjured arm.

"Come on. We're going back to that town and see if they can fix your arm." She told him and started to half guide half drag him out of the building.

Back at Doohan's Spike and Kyle finished telling Miles and Doohan everything that had happened so far and while both were surprised Doohan was doing a good job of hiding it.

"So you're telling me, that those two corporate pukes I sold all that stuff to this morning were a couple of robots?" Doohan asked in a tone of annoyance.

"That's about the size of it." Kyle told him.

"I knew there was something wrong about those two, I just knew it." Doohan grumbled.

"Now you're sure that they'll be coming back here tomorrow?" Spike asked.

"They said they would be." Miles answered.

"Looks like all my good karma is finally paying off." Spike said with a grin.

"And what do mean by that?" Kyle asked him.

"We need to find out what the Dragons are up to with Skynet, and we just happen to have someone who can tell us exactly what's going on coming to us."

"Spike, those things aren't just going to give us the information we want." Kyle reminded him.

"I know that. But if we catch and disable one of them, take precautions to protect Ed's computer from the Terminator AI, we just might have something."

"And I suppose you have just the thing to capture one of those Terminators without destroying it?" Spike grinned again.

"As a matter of fact I do. We just need to set it up and they'll walk right into it." Kyle looked around at Doohan and Miles. Both of them seemed interested in what Spike had in mind.

"Ok Spike, you've got my attention. Let's hear what you've got."


	16. A New Threat

Chapter 16: A New Threat

"You know Spike, I would have expected a better plan then this." Kyle griped as he heaved another shovel full of dirt out of the pit he and Spike were digging. "We have to capture one of most deadly things on the planet, if not the entire solar system. Something that's stronger and faster than any human that ever lived. So what does your grand scheme turn out to be? Dig a hole!"

"I never said that my plan would be anything fancy." Spike answered as he tossed another shovels worth of dirt out. They were currently in a twelve by twelve-foot pit and were digging to a depth of ten feet.

"Fancy doesn't matter. What I'm concerned about is the effects of what you have in mind. There's going to be more then one chance to lose any info those Terminators might be carrying."

"I know that." Spike replied. "But our only alternative is to use the plasma rifle, and then the only way we can stop them is with a shot to the head or power cell. We do that and there's no way we would be able salvage anything. At least this way we have a chance of getting something useful." Kyle couldn't argue the logic. They continued to dig and a few minutes later they heard the sound of vehicle pull up and shut off its engine. They looked up and saw the back end of a tanker truck near the edge of the pit. They heard a door open and close and saw Miles walk up to the edge.

"Got everything you wanted." He told them. "And Doohan wanted me to make sure to let you know that water is hard to come by out here, so this had better work or he'll charge you for it."

"Don't worry, this plan is fool proof." Spike said as he climbed out the pit.

"Besides," Kyle added as he followed Spike out. "If this doesn't work we'll all be dead." Once both of them were out Miles opened the valve and water began to poor into the pit.

"What I don't get is why are we going through are this trouble." Miles said. "You guys said that all you need is the skull of one of these things. Why don't you just shoot their heads off with that fancy ray gun of yours?"

"Because we have only one rifle and two Terminators to deal with." Spike explained. "We do it your way we're going to alert one of them and one of us may end up getting killed. By doing it this way we get the drop on both of them at the same time."

"So just call some of your friends to give us a hand." Miles suggested.

"We can't do that." Kyle said. "We don't know where John and Faye are, and having Jet come here would leave Ed and the ship unguarded." Miles shrugged and turned off the valve when the pit had become half full. As Miles drove the tanker back Spike picked up one end of a cable that snaked its way into one of the larger buildings on Doohan's property.

"Everything set up?" He asked Kyle.

"Hooked right up to the generator, just like you wanted. All we have to do in close the circuit and our friend gets zapped with enough volts to fry a whale." Spike nodded and threw the other end into the water. "Is there anything we missed?"

"Doohan has the last part set up and ready so the only thing left to do is wait for them to come back."

"Do we have any idea what time they're supposed to get here?"

"None. That means we're going to have to sleep at our posts so we can be ready when they do arrive."

"Well this is going to be a fun night." Kyle grumbled as he went to get his things.

Cheyenne Mountain control complex.

The data Skynet had gathered on the subjects John Connor and Faye Valentine was proving to be more then even he had expected. By accessing past records he could find no connection between the two of them. Connor was a respected ISSP lieutenant while Valentine was a bounty hunter, if somewhat of a shady one. Knowing that there was a reason they were together and that they were in possession of an energy weapon Skynet ran a search on current items involving the two of them. What he had found was less then encouraging. Connor had survived the massacre of over thirty heavily armed ISSP officers, and according to police files not released to the public the description of Connor's attacker was a ninety five percent match for a Terminator. He had later escaped from the hospital with the help of Valentine and two others, Jet Black and Spike Spiegel. Only a few hours later all four, in addition to another ISSP officer, Kyle Reese, were charged with the murder of a police captain, more then likely the same Terminator. Soon after that they attacked and destroyed Cyberdyne headquarters, trying to hack into this complex before doing so and killing an ISSP SWAT team, again Skynet calculated them to be Terminators. Soon after the attempted hack had taken place all communication with Cyberdyne had gone dead, and their actions now explained it. It also answered the question of where they had gotten their weapon, now identified as a plasma rifle, they had stolen it. After escaping the police on Mars they had fled into space, their destination unknown. Well it was known now. Their ship, called the Bebop, had slipped through ISSP lines and even avoided Skynet's own surveillance. At the time the old fishing boat had been labeled a low-level threat at most.

Now Skynet felt anger. Angry at himself for being so preoccupied with his preparations and angry at his former masters for not allowing him access to this information about the previous Terminator's fates. If he had known he would have had the Bebop tracked and sent his forces to destroy it. He still could not directly access any outside systems, to do so would bring unwanted attention before he was ready, another irritation. Even though Skynet could feel anger he also knew that if emotions were dwelled upon too long it would be disastrous. He quickly began to calculate ways to deal with this problem. The most logical step would first be the elimination of John Connor and Faye Valentine. The team in pursuit of them had not reported in yet so Skynet contacted them.

"Advance team three. What is your status?" There was no reply. Skynet knew trying further contact was pointless. Not being directly linked to Skynet itself those two Terminators could only communicate through an external radio. The fact that they did not answer lead to three conclusions. One: The radios were malfunctioning. Two: The radios had been damaged. The third option was the most likely; both Terminator units had been destroyed. Between the facts that they were armed with a weapon such as a plasma rifle and they had managed to destroy several more units before put the odds in their favor. Skynet began to from a new strategy. These humans knew how to destroy T-800 units and had the weapon to easily do so. If T-800s had proved ineffective a new model unit was required to deal with this threat. Several new units created to provide base defense would be the most logical choice. While the pursuit of those two humans commenced Skynet would also carry out its new directive, hunting down and destroying the Bebop along with its human crew.

At the Denver airplane factory a brand new fighter craft, Cyberdyne designation Hunter Killer, came online. The first of what soon would be many it had come off the assembly line only an hour before and was begin stored in the makeshift hangar the T-800's on sight had constructed. As Skynet took control of the craft its three VTOL engines powered up and with precision down to the nanometer it maneuvered out of the hangar and into the air. This craft was not armed, components needed for the plasma cannons had not been retrieved yet, but it did not need weapons. Its only purpose for the coming mission was transport.

Many miles away at the production complex the Hunter Killer's passenger was waiting. At Skynet's command it had left it's designated guard post made itself ready for pickup. The T-70 was one of the earliest models created by Cyberdyne for the military. Unlike the T-800s the T-70 was not designed for infiltration missions, it was built for all out warfare. With it's heavy armor and powerful main gun it was the most suited for what was sure to be a hazardous endeavor. When the HK arrived it positioned itself directed over the T-70 and slowly lowered a cable with a claw like arm at the end. Cyberdyne's original purpose for this configuration was to retrieved damaged vehicles on the battlefield and return them to base. Now it served the purpose of transporting the T-70 into battle instead of out of it. The claw closed around the unit and despite the many tons it weighed it was easily hoisted into the air. Altering course the HK headed toward the last known location of advance team three.

At the same time the HK began its flight John and Faye arrived at the town where they had taken care of the Memphis Brothers. They had been given food and the town's doctor was taking care of John's arm while Faye watched, leaning on the doorway of his makeshift office. She held the plasma rifle, wrapped in John's coat, under one arm. The doctor had eyed the wrapped item suspiciously but didn't say anything about it.

"A through and through wound, missed the bone and the major blood vessels. You're very lucky." The doctor said as he applied a new bandage to replace the one Faye had made out of coat sleeve. "How much movement do you have in that arm?" John raised his arm and managed to clench a fist but was grimacing in pain the whole time. "Good. If we had decent medical equipment it would be healed in about a week but my best guess is that you'll be like that for at least a month."

"Thanks doc. I'm only sorry I can't pay you for this." The doctor gave a dismissive wave.

"Not necessary. You already helped when you took care of those three hoods earlier. I'm just returning the favor."

"How are our three friends?" Faye asked. "Very uncomfortable I hope."

"Very." The doctor agreed with a grin. "I think one of them has already begun to go a bit stir crazy."

"What makes you say that?" John asked.

"We did give them food and removed their gags so they could eat, just like you said. Two of them kept quiet and ate but the one with the eyepatch, now there's a nutcase for you. The second we get the tape off he starts yelling how we tied up the wrong people."

"Wrong people?" Faye and John inquired, becoming nervous.

"Yeah. He said you two were a couple of murderers and that you each had a twenty million Woolong bounty on your heads. Said he'd be glad to split it with us if we untied them and helped catch you."

"And you actually believed him?" John asked, pretending that he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Of course not!" The doctor replied. "You were right. They were going to say anything to get out but we're not going to let that happen."

"Good to hear it." John said as he started to stand. "Now if you'll excuse us we've got places to go." Before he could move the doctor blocked his path and he sat back down.

"I'm sorry but I can't allow that. You've lost a good deal of blood and are in no condition to go anywhere. Now I've been a good sport in not asking how you got shot but as a doctor I can't let my patients endanger themselves."

"But…." Faye started.

"No buts." The doctor interrupted. "I've already arranged lodging for you and I expect to see you back here tomorrow so I can check on that wound."

"Maybe we should call and have someone pick us up." John said looking at Faye, who shook her head.

"I already tried, but all I get is static."

"Interference caused by the asteroids." The doctor explained. "There's no telling when the reception will clear up." John shook his head.

"Sorry doc but we've got to get out of here and I'm feeling just fine." He stood and immediately felt lightheaded. A wave of dizziness hit him and he had to lean against the wall for support. The doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Just fine?" He asked sarcastically. "Son you need rest. Try to leave in that condition and you'll drop before you get a mile out of town. Come and see me tomorrow and we'll see if you're fit to travel. Until then I suggest you accept our hospitality." John was about to decline but his pounding head convinced him otherwise.

"Well doc if you insist." John said with a grin. Faye looked at him curiously but didn't say anything.

"Good." The doctor said and gave him a slip of paper with an address on it. "Just go here, everything has been taken care of."

"Thanks again doc." John said as he tried to walk forward but stumbled again. The doctor and Faye helped steady him.

"I'm sorry about the disorientation but since we didn't have the right equipment for a safe blood transfusion you'll just have to wait until it passes. With any luck it should be no more then a couple of hours." John nodded and Faye led him outside.

"Guess this means I still have to carry your worthless butt around." Faye griped when they got to the street.

"And just what gives you the right to complain?" John retorted. "I'm the one who's been shot! Twice I might add. If this keeps up the only thing holding me together will be bandages and wishful thinking."

"Better you then me." Faye remarked. John knew she was kidding and let the remark slide. When they got to the address on the paper they saw it was an old office building on the edge of town that had somehow survived.

"I guess this is it." John said as they stepped inside. It was empty inside and in what would have been the lobby area there were two sofas and a table set up between them. In addition there was food, water, and blankets.

"Kind of cramped." Faye remarked.

"I doubt they would be able to give a four star hotel Faye." John said as he explored the building. It was a simple structure, one story with room for several offices. The sign outside had announced this building belonged to Burns and Wired Insurance but several of the letters, whether from age or vandalism, had fallen away and now the sign read Burned Insurance. After checking all the offices to make sure it was only the two of them he came back to the lobby he saw Faye standing at the doorway. The sun had begun to go down and lights on the street were starting to come on. "Something wrong?"

"It's been my experience that putting a lot of trust in someone else is always a bad idea." Faye responded.

"You think they're going to betray us?" He asked.

"If someone told you that you could make an easy forty million wouldn't you at least be curious to see if it was true?"

"Maybe, but I don't think we're in any danger from these people. They could have jumped us when we walked into town or while we were at the doctor's." He laid down on one of the couches and stared at the ceiling. "We should be safe as long as no one gets too curious."

"And if they do?" Faye asked. When John didn't answer she turned around and saw he was already asleep. Sighing she set the plasma rifle on the table and covered him with a blanket. "Why is it every time I have to be the nurse?" She asked herself as she grabbed a blanket of her own and laid down on the second couch, then surprised herself by falling asleep almost instantly.

Several miles away the Hunter Killer transport was making it's final approach to the last known position of advance team three. Infra red scans revealed only animals, with no humans present the HK could drop off its cargo and leave without fear of discovery. Hovering over one of the flatter areas the HK lowered the T-70 until it was twenty feet above he surface and opened its claw. The T-70's legs were able to absorb the shock and even as the HK began to head back it was scanning the area for signs of the missing T-800s or the two humans. The darkness that had fallen would give it no trouble, equipped with infrared and night vision it would be able to see in the dark almost as well as it could in the light. After half an hour of searching the endless ruins it was able to find one of the T-800s. Using its hand the T-70 lifted the defunct Terminator as if it weighed nothing so Skynet could more closely examine it. In its chest there was a massive hole just to the right of the power unit. The damage that had destroyed the unit, however, was what could only be determined as a plasma blast to the head that had torn part of it off. Once Skynet was finished analyzing the Terminator's remains he had the T-70 drop it and move on. If Skynet choose he would have the remains collected for spare parts, now it had other priorities. Following the footprints from where the first 'body' was the T-70 eventually came to what was left of the second T-800. Only its legs and portions of its hip remained, damage consistent with the rupturing of the power cell. Scanning the ground in the immediate area he was able to detect two sets of footprints and by analyzing their size and depth he was able to calculate the weight and height of whoever had made them. The results of that analysis combined with where they were gave a ninety- percent probability that they belonged to John Connor and Faye Valentine. Looking in the direction the footprints were headed he was able to see the lights of a town in the distance. Deciding that there was the most likely place the humans had gone the T-70 headed in that direction.

An hour later the T-70 was approaching the outskirts of the town. Lights were on and vehicles could be heard, there were many buildings and searching them one by one would allow his targets time to escape. He was considering a second option when the sounds of footsteps came closer. Two humans stopped about thirty feet in front of him. Both had weapons aimed at him and obviously could not see him otherwise they would not attempt something so foolhardy.

"All right whoever you are don't move and put your hands in the air!!" A human voice shouted. If Skynet could he would have made the T-70 smile, he had just found his second option.

"Of all the jobs in this town patrol has to be the worst." Bob Keyes mumbled to himself as he walked with his brother Frank. The two of them, along with others on patrol, were supposed to discourage bandits from invading the town. To Bob it was the stupidest idea he had ever heard. For one thing they couldn't even control those three bounty hunters, the two strangers had needed to take care of that. In addition if well-armed and determined bandits decided to attack he doubted the old bolt action rifles he and his brother carried would be enough to scare them away. No sooner then he had thought that then he saw what looked like a pair of red eyes looking at them from the darkness.

"You see em Bob?" Frank asked. Bob nodded. This wasn't really anything new, he'd seen his share of drifters with infrared goggles that gave off a similar glow.

"Come on. Let's take care of this before whoever it is gets too ambitious." Both started walking towards the glowing eyes. Usually whoever was wearing those things was too stupid to realize that only high end goggles gave off no glow and once they saw they were discovered they took off running. This one however was staying put, not a good sign.

"Guess we'll have to do the tough guy routine." Frank said. Bob nodded again and after stopping what they guessed to be about twenty feet from the intruder both raised their rifles.

"All right whoever you are don't move and put your hands in the air!!" Bob shouted. Whoever it was didn't move. In Bob's opinion whoever it was still thought he couldn't be seen. "Frank, put a light on him." If this didn't send him running they might have to shoot him. Frank took out his flashlight and shined it in the general direction of the intruder. When they saw what it was Frank dropped the flashlight but the light continued to shine on it. It was human shaped but that's where the similarities ended. It was made out of metal, stood eight feet tall and had a shoulder span of four feet. Its left arm had a normal five-fingered hand but its right was dominated by a large six-barreled gun, but not a puny minigun like the kind the T-800s carried. This was its big brother, a Vulcan gun, a cannon that was normally mounted on fighter craft. Paralyzed with fear the brothers could only watch as that gun was raised and pointed at them. The gun gave a growl as it powered up and then a deafening roar as it fired. It fired for only half a second but when Bob turned to look at his brother all he saw was a red mist. He didn't know how long he was standing there but the next thing he knew the robot's hand closed around him and lifted him so he was eye to eye with it.

"Are John Connor and Faye Valentine still in this town?!" The thing asked. Bob didn't recognize those names but knew that this thing meant those two strangers. He tried to answer but couldn't find his voice and felt the robot start to squeeze him until he could feel his bones start to give. "Answer me NOW!!" The thing ordered.

"Yes they're still here!" Bob managed to shout.

"Where are they?" The robot demanded.

"I don't know!" Bob shouted. The robot seemed to scrutinize his words. "I'm telling ya I DON"T KNOW!!!"

"You are telling the truth." The robot said. Bob felt relief, thinking he would be let go, for a fraction of a second before the robot closed his hand the rest of the way, crushing every bone below his head.

Dropping the dead human the T-70 entered the town, he had the information he wanted and now it was only a question of finding them. As he walked forward other armed humans came in his direction. Some turned and fled while others raised their weapons and fired. Knowing that this resistance would need to be dealt with the T-70 raised his cannon and began to engage.

Not far from where the battle was taking place the two humans Skynet was after lay sleeping. At least they were sleeping until the roar of the T-70's gun reached them. Both bolted upright, wide-awake. Before either of them could say anything an explosion shook the building, throwing them both to the floor.

"What the hell was that!?!?" Faye shouted, trying to untangle herself from her blanket.

"Nothing friendly." John responded as he reached for the plasma rifle. "Argh!" He tried to move his left arm but the wound had time to stiffen and he couldn't extend it fully. Faye grabbed the rifle and John, realizing that he wouldn't be able to use it, took out his sidearm. Stepping outside the building they heard weapons fire and saw people running in two directions. In one direction people were running away from the sounds of gunfire and those very few with weapons who were rushing towards it. Grabbing one of people running towards it, a bearded man carrying a rocket launcher, Faye pulled him aside.

"What's going on?!" She shouted so she could be heard over the increasing volume of fire.

"I don't know the details but they're saying there's some kind of metal monster attacking." Another explosion shook the area and the man headed towards it. After a second of thought Faye and John followed him. Any other time they would have laughed, but after their encounters with the Terminators a 'metal monster' as the man had put it could be all too real. After running for several blocks they came within sight of what was attacking the town and wished they hadn't. They saw a new type of robot that towered over the Terminators, and had a gun that was bigger then most people. Around it lay the bodies of the town's defenders, some had been crushed but most had fallen victim to its cannon. Others continued to fire at the thing with rifles only to have the bullets bounce harmlessly off. The man that they had questioned raised his rocket launcher and fired. The rocket slammed into the thing's chest and exploded, but the robot didn't budge. Raising its cannon it sprayed the crowd of defenders, mowing them down. Off to one side Faye and John watched the massacre and before they could act the robot scanned the area and looked right at them. The glow in its eyes intensified and to their surprise it spoke.

"John Connor. Faye Valentine. You have been sighted for termination." Faye and John didn't realize it but they gave off subtle movements that was a final confirmation of their identities. The robot turned towards them and began to raise its cannon. Faye was faster and fired the plasma rifle. Her shots struck the robot where his power cell was, the same place as the human heart. Only instead of convulsing and exploding like the T-800s this robot didn't even twitch when the plasma bolts struck him. Faye and John didn't stick around to wonder why it hadn't worked, they turned and ran. Skynet watched the humans run with a great deal of amusement. By changing the location of the power cell in this unit's construction he had thwarted the only way they knew to attack. With that now they were reduced to nothing but a pair of fleeing animals.

"Just once I'd like to not have a curveball thrown at us when we think we have things figured out!!" John said as they ran. A crash from behind them drew their attention and they saw the robot perusing them. It moved with surprising speed for something so large, taking large strides and gaining on the two. Any vehicles that got in its way it tossed and kicked aside like toys. Deciding to get cute it actually picked up one car and threw it _at_ John and Faye. "Down!!" John shouted and both threw themselves to the ground as the car sailed over their heads. Scrambling to their feet they ducked down a side street, the robot almost on top of them. As they made their way down the side street they heard a loud growl and didn't need to guess what was about to happen. Faye noticed an open door in one of the buildings, grabbed John and threw the two of them inside just as the robot's cannon began to roar. The heavy rounds tore holes in the wall but the angle they were fired at made them fly over Faye and John. When Skynet realized that it could not maneuver the T-70 down the narrow side street it went for the most direct approach. It balled up its hand and swung it at the wall of the building.

Inside the building Faye waited for the cannon to stop roaring before lifting her head up.

"You ok?" She asked John.

"Depends on what you mean." John replied. Faye didn't understand his answer then realized what had happened. After she pushed John in here they had both fallen off their feet. John was facedown on the ground and Faye was lying on top of him. Embarrassed Faye got off of John and both got to their feet. Looking at their new surroundings they saw the inside of the building had been gutted, the only thing remaining were the metal support beams. Before either could say anything across the room a metallic fist exploded through the wall. The fist opened and grabbed the edge of the hole it had made, then proceeded to tear an even larger hole. As the T-70 smashed its way into the building John was preparing to start running again but when he glanced over at Faye he saw her taking aim at the hulking monstrosity. He knew her aim was good and if she was going to stand her ground in the face of that thing she had to have some sort of a plan. He didn't know what she could be thinking but he could tell from the look on her face her mind was made up and he would have to trust her.

Skynet couldn't figure out why the humans had stopped running. Perhaps they had decided to accept their fate, or maybe they wanted to go out fighting. Either way it was unlikely they could find the hidden power cell before both were reduced to nothing more then blood stains. Faye Valentine was aiming the plasma rifle but Skynet was not worried as he began to raise the T-70's cannon.

As John watched beams of light flashed out from rifle and peppered the robot's right arm. Superheated plasma tore through the gun, destroying its inner workings and setting off the ammunition belt that fed it. Like a line of firecrackers the explosions worked their way up the chain of bullets and into the ammunition supply on the T-70's back. The pack went up in a small explosion but did little to stop the massive robot, which began to lurch its way towards them.

"Come on!" Faye yelled to him and motioned towards the door. John started to follow when he saw the robot knock aside one of the support beams. That motion gave him an idea.

"Wait!" He shouted at Faye. She paused and John took the rifle from her.

"Are you crazy?!?!" Faye yelled as John started to take aim, the adrenaline taking care of the pain in his arm that he was sure to feel later. Ignoring Faye he began to shoot out the tops of several supports. The plasma blasts made short work of two and John saw the robot look at what he was shooting at. It seemed to realize what was going on and hurried its movements. Taking out a third beam John heard a loud groaning sound from above him.

"Go go go!!!" He shouted at Faye and pushed her out the same door they had come in through. Behind them the T-70 tried franticly to get out but its bulk made it too slow and it was buried as the building collapsed in on itself.

Outside Faye and John only got several steps away from the building when the cloud of dust and debris caused by the building implosion overtook them, racking both of them with coughing fits. The dust cloud cleared quickly and after they had stopped coughing found themselves covered in gray ash.

It was almost comical but Faye was not in a joking mood.

"And just what the hell were you thinking!?!" She yelled. "What we're you trying to, bury us alive?!?!"

"Hey I didn't see you coming up with any great ideas!!" John shot back. "I saw an opportunity and I went for it!!"

"Well next time could you give a little warning when you're going to put our lives in danger!!" Faye yelled.

"Look who's talking!! You're the one who decided to face that thing down when it still had its cannon working!!"

"Well it worked didn't it!?!" Faye defended.

"What I did worked to!!" John retorted. Both stood silent for several seconds, now that they had gotten all that out of their systems they began to calm down. "You know what this means don't you?" John asked after a couple of minutes.

"Skynet had some new tricks up its sleeve." Faye answered.

"Right. We can't wait for the radio interference to go away, we've got to get back to the ship now. They need to know about…" He was interrupted by the sound of rocks falling and looking over to at what was left of the building they saw a pile of rubble bulging.

"God damn it!!" Faye yelled and snatched the plasma rifle from John. "Don't these things know the rules!?!? When you get a building dropped on you you're supposed to stay down!!" She ranted as she climbed the pile.

"Faye, wait!!" John yelled after her and started to follow. Faye wasn't listening. At the top of the pile the robot's head poked out but its shoulders appeared to be caught. It struggled to get loose but stopped when something approached and stood over it. Looking up Skynet saw it was Faye Valentine and had a look on her face that even the supercomputer could tell was manic. She placed the barrel of the plasma rifle against the forehead of the T-70.

"JUST DIE!!!!" She shouted and pulled the trigger. On Skynet's end all visual input from the T-70 vanished and its connection with the unit ceased to function. Skynet was beginning to become frustrated but became intrigued at the same time. The battlefield adaptability of both Connor and Valentine had allowed both of them to not only escape with their lives but to destroy the T-70. These humans were proving to be a greater threat then Skynet had originally calculated, and dealing with them took a greater sense of urgency. Setting to the task Skynet first calculated what their first move would be. Since they knew the town they were in was no longer safe they would flee. Calculating the most likely vectors of escape to be north towards another human settlement Skynet ordered several camouflaged T-800s, under his direct command, to proceed to that area at once and set up ambush sites at the most likely places they would pass. They wouldn't escape him a second time.

John was following Faye up the mound of rubble when the head of the robot that had been chasing them came up from under the pile. Ignoring the danger Faye walked right up to it, screamed something then shot it at point blank range. Apparently she had forgotten that when the plasma bolts struck their targets they tended to explode, and because the she had the barrel of the weapon against the robot's head the explosion was powerful enough to throw her off the pile and into the air. Without thinking John moved and was able to catch Faye but she knocked him over, causing them to roll and tumble down the pile of rubble. They landed in a heap, with Faye lying on top of John and both of them looking into the other's surprised face.

"You know if this keeps happening people will start to talk." John remarked after a very long moment of awkward silence. Faye quickly pushed herself off him and stood up. He was willing to bet both of them were thankful that they were covered in ash because it was a sure thing they were turning bright red at this.

"Shut up." Faye snarled in response but helped him up. They made their way back to the main streets and were greeted by a large crowd of the town's citizens. The majority of them were unharmed but some of them wore bloody bandages, results of trying to stop the robot with conventional weapons. They stood watching them silently and the stares were starting to get to Faye and John when one of them, a middle aged man that had his arm wrapped in bandages, stepped forward.

"Is it dead?" He asked them. They nodded wearily in response. The man let out a relieved sigh then turned towards the crowd. "Tell them to sound an all clear!" He shouted at someone then turned back to John and Faye. "You two follow me, questions need to be answered and it looks like you both need to get some medical attention." Before they could ask questions he turned and started walking. Faye and John followed, the crowd not taking their eyes off the bloodied and dust covered strangers. In their eyes John saw many emotions, wonder, apprehension, fear, even anger. It made sense to him. First two strangers show up and then this happens, it was natural to assume that they had brought that monster with them. What sickened John was that might not be too far from the truth. He tried to get the attention of the man in front of them but when he raised his left arm a jolt of pain shot through it. Hissing in pain he looked and saw that all the activity had reopened his wound but thankfully it wasn't bleeding nearly as much as it had the first time.

"How bad is it?" Faye asked, remembering how bad it had been before.

"Compared to earlier it's great." John answered. When he turned to look at Faye he saw why their guide had said both of them needed medical attention. There was a red line on Faye's forehead that was bleeding slightly. "You're going to want to have that looked at." He told her, pointing at his own forehead. She put her hand to her own and when it came away bloody instead of disgusted she looked confused.

"When did that happen?" She asked John, who shrugged in response. He hadn't seen it happen either, and with so many ways she could have gotten hurt it would be impossible to tell just how it happened.

"We're here." Their guide announced and the two found themselves in the middle of the town. It had been turned into a makeshift hospital and could best be described as organized panic. They saw the doctor that had treated John's arm, as well as several others, moving from person to person. There were wounded everywhere and they didn't want to think how many had been killed in the attack.

"So who's in charge?" John asked.

"Nobody is, yet." The man answered. "After everything calms down they'll probably put someone in charge but for right now we're just trying to save as many people as we can." He motioned to one of the self appointed medics who brought John some bandages and gauze and Faye a large patch for the cut on her head. "The doctor is kind of busy right now so…"

"We get it." Faye said as she put the patch on the center of her forehead. "What's so funny?" She asked John, who had begun to snicker.

"Nothing." John said, the smile from his mouth quickly disappearing. When they were done treating their wounds the man spoke again.

"So I suppose the obvious question it what is this all about?"

"You want the long version or the short version?" John asked.

"Better make it the short version." The man replied.

"The short version is that we have some powerful enemies that are fooling around with robotics."

"You mean you've seen one of those things before." The man asked, referring to the T-70.

"That was completely new to us." Faye answered.

"We thought the only types of robots they had were this kind." John said, handing the man the photograph of the Terminator, which had somehow survived. The man looked at it then gave them a questioning look. "He only looks human. Trust me, that's a robot." The man scrutinized the picture for a minute.

"Any other night I would have called you crazy and locked you up. Now…" He looked out at the aftermath of the attack. "Now it would be hard to deny such a claim."

"Thank you." John said. "It's good to find someone who believes us. But there is something else. If was able to find us here more of them will be coming. You have to abandon this town and go someplace else."

"We can't do that." The man answered. "We have too many wounded, and we won't abandon them."

"But…" John started.

"If we try to move some of them they will die. We're like a family here Mr. Connor, the only way we'll make it through this is if we stay together."

"Wait a minute." John interrupted. "You know who I am?" The man smiled slightly and nodded.

"Yes. A very vocal member of the Memphis brothers knew who you and Miss Valentine were. However as desperate as we are for money we don't stab people in the back to get it." He chuckled at John and Faye's surprised reaction. "Quite different then what you expected Earth people to be, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Faye answered. "I always thought Earthers would sell their own mothers to get off the planet."

"In some places they would." The man agreed. "But here we've learned to accept the situation we are in, and we deal with it as best we can. Now, if it's true that your enemies will come looking for you it would be best if you left as soon as possible." That made the two of them feel a pang of guilt. The man held up his hand before either could speak. "I believe you that you didn't bring it here on purpose and you did manage to stop it, but some people won't listen. I might be able to arrange transportation if I can find a free hand. Which direction are you headed in?"

"East." John answered. "We have to get back our ship and warn our friends." The man nodded and sent a messenger. "There is something else we would like to ask you to do."

"What's that?" The man asked.

"Tell people what happened here. Warn them about the threat, about him." He pointed to the picture the man still held. "Keep it, show everyone what he looks like. Tell them if they see him that he is dangerous and needs to be shot. And by shot I mean by nothing short of a rocket. This is bigger then you can imagine and the more people that know about it the more it can help to keep this from happening again." The request sounded strange, almost crazy, but when the man saw John and Faye's eyes he knew he should do as they asked.

"Consider it done. And as a show of faith I won't ask about that fancy gun of yours." He said, motioning to the plasma rifle Faye still held.

"We've found some transportation sir, a transport truck leaving in three hours. It's heading east for about eighty miles." John did some rough calculations in his head. That left them just inside walking distance to the Bebop. They had to hitchhike this far out and transportation almost the full way back couldn't be passed up.

"We'll take it." Faye answered before he could.

"One thing though." The messenger added. "You're going to have to ride with the cargo."

"What is it?" John asked.

"Mostly construction supplies." The messenger answered. "We bought some of them so there should be space in the back."

"As long as they don't stink." John said. As an after thought he checked his watch. "Who the hell starts a delivery at midnight?"

"That's how things work down here." Was the only answer the messenger gave before he ran off. The next three hours Faye and John tried to get some rest but despite the weariness both felt and John still not fully recovered from his wound, they were too on edge to sleep so they helped in any way they could. Three hours later found them on the road in the back of a medium sized transport truck. There was room but the accommodations were none too comfortable. John was sitting on the floor leaning against a pile of bags containing powered cement while Faye was lying on top of it. They had tried to sleep but the shock absorbers of the truck were shot and they were jarred with each passing bump.

"Remind me to talk to Jet about our travel arrangements when we get back." John said, trying to keep his mind off the bumpy ride.

"Will you be quiet!" Faye yelled from above. "I'm trying to get some sleep!"

"You really think you can sleep through all this?" John asked as they went through a series of teeth rattling bumps.

"I would be able to if someone would stop talking!!!" She shouted back. John was about to make a crass remark of his own but held his tongue. Between the succession of fights they had been through and the lack of sleep both of them had started to get a little punchy. He listened to Faye mumble to herself for a while before deciding to press his luck again. If worse came to worse he could always claim exhaustion.

"You do realize that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness?" He asked. He heard movement and looked up to see Faye looking down at him. She looked like a wreck and John knew he probably looked the same, or worse. "What?" He asked innocently.

"I was about five seconds from falling asleep." She growled. "And you are about five seconds from me…" John didn't find out what Faye was going to do because at that moment they hit a particularly large bump, one that threw Faye off the bags. She landed next to John, right on her butt. "OWWWW!!!" She wailed. Even though he knew he would regret it John turned towards her and smiled.

"Still five seconds from falling asleep?" He asked. Instead of responding verbally Faye elbowed his left arm. That brought him back to his senses in a hurry. "Jeez Faye! Can't you take a joke!?" The smile on Faye's face gave him his answer. Before anything else that might have resulted in serious injury the truck came to stop.

"I've taken you as far as I can." The driver said as he opened the back doors. The two groaned as they stood, muscles that hadn't been used in a while suddenly being forced to stretch.

"Were you followed?" John asked, as he jumped to the ground. The driver shook his head confidently. "Good. Well thanks for your help." He said as he shook the driver's hand.

"It was nothing." The driver responded as he got back into the truck. After the taillights were out of sight Faye reached for her bracelet and opened it. Anticipating John's reaction she spoke first.

"You want to walk back in the dark be my guest, but I'm getting a ride." She said and pressed the button. A few minutes later they heard the roar of engines and the Red Tail set down in front of them. Faye opened the cockpit and climbed into the pilot's seat. "Well? Are you coming or not?" John checked his watch and found it was two in the morning. Deciding it would take too long and that he was too tired to argue with he climbed in behind her. The Red Tail lifted off and headed back to the Bebop, its automatic pilot guiding it. When Spike and the others had set out they had used the Red Tail to shuttle them two at a time to land. Afterwards it would fly back to the Bebop to pick up the next two. This allowed them to leave quickly and the Red Tail to remain with the Bebop in its new hiding place.

The hiding place they had chosen to place the Bebop was in itself as unique as the ship was. When the Gate accident had occurred pieces of the broken moon rained down on planet Earth. Most impacted like regular meteorites, straight on and creating normal craters. Some pieces, whether from some fluke in the way it traveled through the atmosphere or just plain luck had struck the Earth at an angle. When such a shot hits normal ground the only noticeable difference is a deformed crater. But if an angled shot struck the side of a mountain or shoreline it would carve out a crater on the side of what was struck. Such instances, called pockets because of the resemblance to sinking a pool ball, are rare but not impossible to find. Using MPU's geographical data, leftover from the laser-carving incident, they had found a pocket that was big enough to fit the Bebop into and hide it in the underground cavern that had formed, away from any prying eyes.

Now the Red Tail navigated its way into the pocket and towards the Bebop. As the ship touched down its two occupants noticed they had a welcoming party. Jet, Ed and Ein, all awakened by the Red Tail taking off by itself had waited to see what its return would bring.

"This had better be an emergency." Jet said angrily as he approached the vehicle. It was agreed that they didn't want to risk anyone seeing vehicles flying in or out of the pocket. He stopped when he saw its occupants get out. Bruised, scrapped up, still covered in gray dust and with bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep, everything they had gone through made Faye and John looked like two different people then had taken off the morning before. "What happened?!?"

"Skynet sent us something new." John said as he stumbled forward. Finally able to truly relax everything was catching up to them. The adrenaline that had been keeping them going for the past several hours was gone for good and they truly looked dead on their feet. Their animosity of only a few minutes ago forgotten John and Faye supported each other as they walked.

"John person and Faye Faye saw new machine man?" Ed asked. Faye nodded.

"Giant son of a bitch…. had a cannon on his arm." She answered.

"Where'd you see it? Could it have followed you back?" Jet asked.

"In a town about eighty miles from here." John answered. "And we destroyed it." He and Faye started to leave the hangar. "Before you ask we don't know anything else. Talk to us in a few hours when we're able to think a bit clearer." Jet didn't say anything and watched them go. They looked like hell and they deserved some rest. Inside Faye and John made it to the lounge and Faye started to lead them towards the couch.

"I think this is good enough don't you?" Faye asked.

"Whatever you say." John answered as he helped Fay sit down on the couch. He ambled over to the larger chair and plopped down into it.

"This isn't one of those macho acts is it?" Faye asked as she lay down. "Give the lady the best spot while you tough it out?"

"I don't think either of us want's to get into this right now." John answered. "Right?" Faye's only answer was to yawn and turn over, already falling asleep. "Glad we agree." John said before things went dark for him to.

Several hours later as John and Faye still slept the sun began to rise over Doohan's property and the people there got a rude awakening.

"Eyes open!" Doohan barked into his radio. At their positions Spike, Kyle and Miles snapped awake. Kyle was the first to respond.

"Sleep at our posts, great idea Spike. I think I've ruined my back." Kyle groaned. His part in the plan called for him to snipe the second Terminator with the plasma rifle to keep it from helping the first. With no good hiding places available Doohan had needed to solve the problem by positioning an old armored personnel carrier where they were hopeful he would get the best possible shot. Of course sleeping on the metal floor had made his back feel just as stiff as the metal was.

"Don't complain." Spike answered. "At least you didn't have to sleep sitting up." Spike had drawn duty in manning what would put the Terminator into the electrified pit. Like most scrap dealers Doohan owned a crane-controlled electromagnet to move scrap that was too heavy to move by hand but was too light to bother using one of the trucks.

Of the three of them Miles had drawn the easiest assignment. When given the signal he would flip the switch that would close the circuit and electrocute whatever was in the pit. Doohan had the most dangerous assignment; he would lure the first Terminator into a position so Spike would be able to snag him.

"So when do you think those things will show up?" Miles asked.

"If they want the stuff as badly as they seem to you can bet it'll be soon." Doohan answered. He was correct and half an hour later Spike saw a cloud of dust coming down the road. As the cloud came closer Spike was able to see the truck that had almost run over him and Kyle yesterday.

"Okay everybody we got the two of them inbound. Time to act busy." He started up the crane and began picking up random pieces of scrap and dumping them. In the APC Kyle stepped up to one of the firing slits and set his rifle. The truck stopped in the same spot as it did the day before and it gave Kyle a clear shot at the driver. Now all he had to do was wait for Doohan's signal. The second Terminator got out of the truck and walked towards the office. Doohan came out and met him half way.

"Do you have the components?" The Terminator asked bluntly.

"We got some of them but something's come up that I think you should take a look at." Doohan answered, his voice coming in loud and clear over their radios.

"Show me." The Terminator demanded. Doohan nodded and motioned for the Terminator to follow him. He led the machine to an area that was devoid of anything metallic. "Why are you stopping here?"

"I told you something has come up." Doohan answered. Hearing those words Spike started to swing the magnet in their direction.

"What has come up?" The Terminator asked, his voice starting to sound impatient.

"You and your brother's number." Hearing the signal Kyle set his sights and fired, hitting the second Terminator in the forehead. The first Terminator looked to see what the strange noise was when a large shadow fell over him. Looking up he was able to see the magnet just as it made a loud humming sound and he was drawn up to face first with a loud clang. It tried to free its arms but not even its advanced hydraulics could free it from the grip the magnet had on him. Spike swung the crane around and positioned it over the water filled pit. Cutting the power to the magnet the Terminator fell into the pit with a large splash. Before it could even stand Spike was already yelling into his radio.

"HIT IT!!" He shouted. On the ground Miles flipped the switch and closed the circuit, the results were instantaneous. The pit literally exploded with electricity, arcs shooting out the top and spraying wildly. Inside the pit the Terminator stiffened as several thousand volts worth of electricity coursed through him. Overloaded, his internal systems began to shut themselves down in order to avoid permanent damage. The fail-safe was designed to protect his circuitry from an additional electric charge but Spike and the others weren't taking any chances. They kept the electricity flowing for almost a full minute after the Terminator collapsed. Not built to withstand such a charge the failsafes shorted out and reset themselves to manual override. Now the Terminator would have to rely on an outside force to reactivate it. The others didn't know this so they treated the downed Terminator like an active threat. After the power was shut off Spike fished it out of the pit and dropped it into the back of the jeep he and Kyle had rode in on. Doohan drove and Kyle was in the passenger seat. He trained his rifle on the motionless machine, ready to fire if it so much as twitched. Driving up to one of the transport helicopters Doohan had put in operating order just last night Spike and Miles joined the others and with Kyle covering the four of them somehow managed to get the Terminator into the cargo bay of the chopper. Kyle climbed in next followed by a very nervous Miles.

"Just stay away from it and let me handle any trouble." Kyle said as Miles strapped in. Up front Doohan climbed into the pilot's seat and Spike into the co-pilot's.

"You've already done your part." Spike told him. "You don't have to do this."

"Nice try Spike but I don't think you or your friend know how to fly this thing." Doohan replied as he started the rotors. "Besides, when Skynet or whatever's behind all this gets wind of what happened it wouldn't make much sense to stay now would it? On top of that, this scheme you cooked up is so harebrained and so far it's worked, I've got to see if the rest of it actually works."

"I was kind of wondering that myself. Getting that thing there is only half of it. After that it's up to Ed." Spike said. They took off and under Spike's direction they headed towards the Bebop.


	17. Regroup

Chapter 17: Regroup

On board the Bebop

As John began to wake up he noticed two things. One was the smell of coffee and two; every muscle in his body was stiff as a board. Opening his eyes, which was an effort in itself, he saw two large mugs of coffee set on the table in front of him. On the other side of the table Faye was still asleep on the couch and John saw someone had put a blanket over her. Looking down he noticed someone had done the same for him. He tried to reposition himself and muscles let him know that it was a bad idea. Letting out a loud groan he sat up straighter and began to remove the blanket that covered him. He heard a loud bark and looked down to see Ein walking out from underneath the table.

"How long have you been laying there?" John asked.

"Ein was playing watchdog. Wanted to make sure you and Faye Faye were ok. Same as Ed." A sleepy but cheerful voice answered from one side. Turning, despite the protests his neck muscles were giving him, he saw Ed sitting on the floor a few feet away from him. She was rubbing sleep from her own eyes but still had that large grin on her face.

"Is he the one that gave us the blankets to?" John asked. Ed giggled at the question.

"No, Ed did that. He made sure that no one bothered you." Ein barked at the compliment and behind him Faye began to move.

"Could somebody shoot that dog?" She groaned, still half asleep. "Or at least throw him overboard." Ein barked in protest at the comment and Ed just continued to grin, joined by John.

"Sorry Faye." John said as he reached for one of the coffee mugs. He groaned again as more muscles were being forced to stretch. "But I think this is our wake up call." Faye let out another groan and pulled the blanket over her head.

"He's right." Jet said as he entered the room. "You two did need some rest but we can't afford to waste any time." John knew Jet was right but looked at his watch. They had been asleep for five hours and he saw why Jet was eager to find out what happened. Faye mumbled something but sat up.

"I guess we should be thankful we got this much rest at all." He remarked. Faye growled at him and picked up the other cup of coffee. As soon as she took a sip her face contorted wildly and her eyes seemed to bug out of her head. She swallowed the coffee but looked like she was going to throw up and started coughing. Jet stood by calmly while John stared on in confusion. Ed, on the other hand, found Faye's reaction hilarious and was rolling on the ground laughing. When Faye sent her a nasty glance she scrambled behind John's chair then poked her head out cautiously.

"What was that!?!" Faye shouted when she stopped coughing.

"A specialty brew that cops like to use." Jet explained. "Guaranteed to keep you awake through any stakeout and to kill any hangover no matter how bad it is." Faye made a face and put the cup down. "Hey you're awake aren't you?" John looked at the cup in his own hand and decided that anything would be better then how he felt now. He took a sip and though he couldn't see it he knew he had the same reaction as Faye. The taste was the strongest he had ever had and almost spit it out. As he forced himself to swallow the strong, and almost scalding hot, coffee he did find himself wide awake and after a few seconds felt energetic.

"What's in that stuff Jet, pure caffeine and water?" He asked when his own coughing fit was over. "There had to be another way of getting us up." Though he did have to admit that the aches in his muscles were starting to fade.

"Actually Ed gave me a pretty good idea but I opted for the coffee instead." Jet said.

"Really?" Faye asked as she and John looked at the still hiding Ed.

"And just what did she suggest?" John asked.

"You don't want to know." Jet answered as he sat down in the second chair.

"Ed doesn't get to have any fun." Ed moped as she slunk back to her computer.

"Earlier you two said something about a new type of robot." Jet said, getting down to business. "What exactly happened?" John and Faye told him everything that had happened. They had gotten to the point where they had run into the two Terminators and John had been shot and then Faye had almost been killed by one of the machines imitating John's voice when Jet interrupted.

"Hold it. What do you mean he was able to imitate John? Was he using a recording of John's voice?" Faye shook her head.

"No, he was talking using John's voice. His mouth was moving in sync and everything. It was a perfect imitation. I never would have known until I ran into that thing."

"Luckily I was able to get to her first." John said. Jet processed this new information. After having Ed do some checking he found that Terminators could imitate human speech flawlessly, and while he felt stupid for not having found that earlier he knew that it wasn't their fault. The only reason they hadn't found out about this before was because they had only been studying the T-800's combat actions, not its infiltration capabilities.

"We'll try to find a way to counter that later. For now tell me about this new type of robot you saw."

"We had gone back to the first town to get John's wounds tended to." Faye explained. "Later that night everything starts blowing up. We went to see what was happening and we saw this new son of a bitch."

"Hold on a second." Jet interrupted. "Describe him as best as you can. Ed, have MPU try to find anything that matches their descriptions in Cyberdyne's files."

"Roger Jet person." Ed answered and opened the files.

"Please enter description." MPU said.

"He was massive." John started. "At least eight feet tall. He was human shaped for the most part…."

"Except for his right arm." Faye interrupted. John glanced over but didn't say anything. "That was some kind of machine gun. More like a cannon." There was silence for a few seconds before Jet spoke.

"That's it?"

"We didn't get a good look at him." John answered.

"We were too busy trying not to get shot or stepped on." Faye added.

"Processing information." MPU said. "Likely match found." He said after a few seconds of searching. A technical diagram of a robot appeared onscreen, one that was a dead ringer for the one Faye and John described, labeled T-70.

"That's him." Faye and John said in unison.

"God damn." Jet mumbled. "MPU, find any other files about Cyberdyne's military projects. I don't want anymore surprises popping up that we could have known about."

"Searching." MPU said and began going through all of the files he possessed. While he searched Jet turned back to Faye and John.

"So how were you able to destroy that thing?"

"It wasn't easy." John said. "For one thing the power cell wasn't where it was supposed to be. After we found that out we did the only logical thing to do."

"We turned tail and ran like hell." Faye broke in. "We sort of led him to an abandoned building…"

"Sort of?" Jet inquired.

"It was kind of an accident." John explained. "We were trying to get behind cover and ended up in this abandoned building." He didn't say just 'how' they had gotten in the building and hoped he didn't sound anxious about it. "Faye was able to disable its cannon and we managed to bring the building down on his head. Which is why we came back covered in this crap." He added, brushing off some of the gray dust that stubbornly clung to his clothes.

"So it took a building falling on it to finally stop this thing?" Jet asked, almost not believing it. Even Terminators didn't need anything close to that to be brought down.

"Actually no." John said sheepishly.

"NO!?!? You mean even after that it was still moving?!?"

"In a manner of speaking." John said. "After the building collapsed we thought we had it then saw it start to dig its way out. It managed to get its head out of the wreckage but it got stuck before it could free its arms."

"So what did you do? I thought you said you destroyed it."

"That's the interesting part." John said with a wry grin. "After we saw him start to come out Faye storms up there and plugs the bastard between the eyes at point blank range. Blew its head to pieces."

"Shot him point blank?" Jet asked. John nodded. "With the plasma gun?" John nodded again. Jet turned to Faye. "You know how dangerous that is. What were you thinking?!"

"She wasn't." John said before Faye could answer. "That's why she almost blew herself up." Faye shot him a nasty look. "Hey don't kill the messenger. You weren't exactly acting too smart right then."

"It wasn't like you were doing anything intelligent at that point either. You just stood there staring at it." Faye growled.

"That's enough!" Jet said. He knew if he let this go far enough punches might start being thrown. "Let's get back on track. After you destroyed it what happened?"

"The towns people patched us up and gave us a ride back to where Faye could call some transportation."

"You mean they didn't abandon the town?" Jet asked.

"They wouldn't leave." Faye said. "We told them what would happen if they stayed. Even after we told them about the Terminators they still wouldn't leave. They said they had too many injured to move."

"We turned them into sitting ducks." John said bitterly. "That thing tracked us there and now they're in the center of a bulls-eye thanks to us."

"It's nobodies' fault." Jet said. "You couldn't have known about that new robot or that it would be able to follow you. If we could I'd say we all go back and help protect those people, but we don't have enough weapons or people to do that. Plus we don't know what else the Dragons could throw at us. MPU, how's that list coming?"

"I have scanned all confiscated files and have found several files dealing with Cyberdyne's involvement with the military. The first is this." A diagram of a strangely shaped aircraft appeared. Two rotating engines sat at the ends of its wings and a third in its tail. It had a basic fighter shape but looked wholly different from anything they had seen before. "Cyberdyne attack craft, designation Hunter Killer. Armed with a variety of guns and missiles these automated craft were to linger over a battle for hours, destroying all hostile forces it came across. A prototype was completed at the time of the gate accident."

"Well at least that's something a bit more normal." Faye remarked.

"Second is this." MPU continued, ignoring Faye. Another diagram appeared, this one of an oddly shaped treaded vehicle appeared. Its base looked like the base used for heavy machinery like large cranes, flat top and wide tank like treads. Out of the base rose what looked like a tower. Near the top of the tower two 'arms' branched out on each side, each holding an underslung gun turret with two barrels apiece. "This unit, dubbed the Goliath, was at first designed to act in conjunction with the Hunter Killer aircraft in battlefield situations. Any enemy units the Hunter Killers missed the Goliath would destroy. After several studies it was shown that this unit had several weaknesses that could be exploited on the battlefield and used to easily neutralize it. Large enough trenches would entrap it, making it an easy target for artillery. An even simpler method would be to use explosives to destroy the treads, rendering it immobile. It was decided that these units would be used for base defense, their heavy firepower and mobility made them well suited for discouraging an attack. The gate accident occurred before the first of these units could be built."

"Did the Dragons have any of those built or under construction?" Jet asked.

"No." MPU answered. "There is no record that construction was attempted."

"We can consider ourselves lucky on that account." Jet said. Dealing with fighter craft would be easy. Dealing with that thing, that would be next to impossible. "Is there anything else?"

"The last of Cyberdyne's projects for the military is the creation of several new types of metal that were to be used in the construction of new units."

"I think it's a safe bet that we don't have to worry about that." Jet remarked. "The alien metal from the spear is bound to be better then anything they could come up with. Thanks for the info MPU."

"You are welcome." MPU said and shut himself down.

"So we've got new stuff to worry about." John groaned.

"Only four things." Jet said. "And only one that we know exists. There's no evidence that anything other then that T-70 you saw has been built."

"And that one's more then enough." Faye said. "Between being almost unstoppable and the arrogant way it talked…."

"It talked to you?" Jet asked. Faye nodded. "But why? At Cyberdyne none of the Terminators said anything to us. Why would this thing waste time like that?"

"Oh no!" John said, putting his hand over his face. "We should have realized this before."

"What?" Jet and Faye asked. John lowered his hand and looked at Faye.

"You remember what that thing said to us?"

"Of course I do!" Faye answered, sounding a little insulted. "It said…." She broke off and the look of realization came over her face.

"Well what did it say?!" Jet asked, beginning to lose his patience.

"John Connor. Faye Valentine. You have been sighted for termination." John said, imitating the T-70.

"DAMN!!" Jet shouted.

"Ed doesn't understand. What's so bad about what new machine man said?" Ed asked, suddenly appearing over John's shoulder. John noticed with some amusement that he didn't bolt out of his seat like the other times.

[Guess that means I'm getting used to this.] He said to himself. "It means that the robot wasn't there by chance, it was looking for us." He told Ed, indicating himself and Faye. "The Dragons know we're on Earth, and that means that things have just gotten a lot harder." There was silence until something began beeping. Reaching into his pocket Jet took out his communicator and switched it on. It hissed and popped with static due to the interference but they were able to make out Spike's voice.

"Jet can you hear me?" Spike asked. "I'm getting mostly static on this end."

"The reception is bad on this end to but I read you Spike." Jet answered. "Something up?"

"I've got good news." Spike answered.

"Great, because I've got plenty of bad news to go with it." Jet replied. "Well let's hear what you've got."

"We got one Jet." Spike said. He sounded like that one statement would explain everything. On the contrary, no one in the lounge had any idea what he was talking about.

"Got one of what Spike?" Jet asked. "You and Kyle were supposed to go to Doohan's and try to get help. What have you got?"

"A Terminator, completely intact and operational." Spike said in a tone most people would use in saying they were bringing back a new car. The group was stunned speechless. "Jet? Are you still there? Damn piece of junk!!" In the helicopter Spike shook his communicator and banged it against the chopper's instrument panel. "Is anybody there?!" He said and held the communicator close to his ear. Jet was about to answer when Faye grabbed the communicator out of his hand.

"You're bringing a Terminator here!?!?" She shouted. In the coptor Spike jerked his head to one side and held his communicator as far away from him as he could, Faye's voice ringing loud and clear. "Are you so big of a lunkhead that you forgot how dangerous those things are!?!?!" Before she could go on John grabbed the communicator from her.

"Just what the hell are you bringing it here for anyway!?!" He yelled. "There's nothing we could get from this!!!" Jet took the communicator back from John and talked at normal volume.

"I'll have to agree with Mr. and Mrs. subtlety." That got him a dirty look from John and Faye. He ignored them and kept talking. "Bringing something that dangerous back here is not a good idea. And John has a point. What are you bringing it back for?"

"So Ed can take another crack at hacking the brain of one of these things." Spike said. Ed had been listening with interest and when she heard that her eyes lit up and she flashed a thousand-watt grin.

"Forget it." Jet said quickly. Ed's face fell. "We tired that once and it almost took over Ed's computer. Why should we try it again?"

"Because this time we have the whole thing." Spike answered. "The AI doesn't need to go into Ed's computer if it still has its original body." It sounded like a solid theory but still..

"Are you sure about that?" Jet asked cautiously.

"No." Was Spike's only answer. That didn't help much.

"How long until you get here?" He heard muffled talking before Spike came back on.

"About fifteen minutes." Jet let out a sigh of defeat.

"All right let's give it a shot. We'll be waiting for you when you get here."

"Roger that." Spike said before signing off. Jet turned off his own communicator and turned to those gathered around him. It consisted of John and Faye, who looked at him like he had gone insane, one very hopeful looking computer hacker and one confused looking dog. Ignoring the other three Jet spoke directly to Ed.

"Ed, if you get another chance to look into the head of one of those things will you be able to handle it?" Ed nodded enthusiastically.

"Now that Ed knows what to watch out for skull head won't have a chance."

"Then I guess that means we're going for it." Jet said as he walked over to the hidden compartment in the floor where the plasma rifles were stored. "Ed, get MPU ready for another try. Make sure he knows how to deal with the AI if things get rough. John, find the longest piece of computer cable you can, Ed is going to stay as far away from that thing as possible." He took out a fresh plasma rifle, loaded it and tossed it to Faye, then took one for himself. "Faye, you and I are going down to the hangar and make sure nothing goes wrong." He tossed her a second loaded rifle and both made their way down to the hangar. A few minutes later John and Ed followed them in, Ed carrying Tomato and John carrying a large coil of wire as well as a plasma rifle of his own strapped to his back. Ein followed closely behind them.

"This was the longest I could find." John said. "We had to cut it to attach the jacks but it's still about one hundred feet."

"It'll have to do." Jet answered. He looked around the hangar then pointed to one of the machine lifts the ships used. "Have Ed set up then run the cable to over there." John nodded and Ed went to work. Once things were set up John, Faye and Jet stood and waited for Spike to arrive with his cargo. As Spike promised, fifteen minutes later the four of them heard a loud mechanical growling and saw one of the oddest machines any of them had ever laid eyes on approach the Bebop.

"What the hell is that?" John asked but his words were lost as the craft came closer, hitting them with rotor wash. Putting their arms up to block flying derbies they squinted into the wind and watched the helicopter enter the hangar and land. As its rotors powered down they saw the back of it open.

"Stay here." Jet told John and Faye then ran over to the chopper, instinctively keeping his head low. Once he got to the ramp he looked into the chopper and saw Kyle pointing his plasma rifle at the Terminator Spike had told them about. It looked like the others he had seen but this one wasn't moving and its eyes were closed. Before he could question Kyle or the person that rode with him Spike and someone who he had to assume was Doohan come out of the vehicle's cockpit.

"You have someplace to put this guy?" Spike half shouted as the noise from the rotors began to wind down.

"Everything's all set." Jet answered. "Ed's ready to go and John and Faye are standing by in case something goes wrong."

"Good." Doohan spoke up. "Then give us a hand with this heavy bastard. No telling when this thing will wake up." Jet slung the rifle over his shoulder and bent down along with Miles, Doohan, and Spike, lifting the heavy machine and carrying it out with Kyle covering them. Even with Jet's help it was still a struggle. As soon as they stepped off the chopper Faye and John aimed their own rifles, ready to fire if anything happened. Ein let his opinion be known by growling but he stayed put.

"I'm with the mutt on this one." Faye remarked, keeping a close eye on their 'guest'.

"Same here." John agreed. Both would have had Spike dump the Terminator in the ocean but since it wasn't their decision they had to live with it.

"So where do we put this thing?" Miles grunted.

"Over here." Jet answered and led them over to machine lift. Once they had set the Terminator onto it Jet used the controls to raise it to a height were they could work on it. "Ok you got it here, now how to we access it?"

"Same way as last time." Kyle answered and tossed his rifle to Spike. He searched his pockets and realized he was missing something. "Anybody got a pocket knife?" He asked. The group looked around at each other but nobody said anything until Miles spoke up.

"I've got one. Souvenir from a ballgame." He said and brought out a small pocketknife. Taking it from him Kyle looked at the handle.

"The Blue Sox?" He asked in a skeptical tone. Miles just shrugged. Getting back to business Kyle flipped open the blade and approached the motionless Terminator. Remembering where the access panel on the skull was he used a knife and cut into the robots artificial scalp. After cutting a slit in the skin he peeled back the scalp to get to the panel. The others were watching him intently, and most of them had plasma rifles pointed in his general direction. The way the Terminator had been laid down Ed was out of sight from the cutting Kyle was doing. Kyle didn't want Ed to see what was going on. Hell, _he_ didn't even want to see what was going on. Even though he knew that this was a machine he just couldn't get past the impression he was cutting into another person's head. Pushing that thought aside he located the panel and began poking at it. From his past experience he had expected this to be the hardest part but to his surprise the panel opened on its own, accompanied by a soft whirring sound. In the dead silence of the hangar that sound was loud and when Kyle looked up he saw that instead of just pointing everyone who had a rile now had it _**aimed**_ in his direction. When they saw nothing was happening they lowered the guns slightly.

"So what's going on?" Jet asked, still cautious.

"Just the panel opening on its own." Kyle answered as he plugged the cable in. When he heard it snap home he looked over at Ed. "It's all yours Ed!" He called. Ed smiled and slipped on her net diving goggles. The others backed away from the Terminator and slowly made their way back to Ed. Those who had plasma rifles paid attention to Tomato's screen but also kept on eye on the motionless machine.

"Preparing interface." MPU announced. Miles and Doohan gave the computer a curious look but didn't say anything. After everything they had seen in the past twelve hours they weren't going to question something as mundane as a talking computer. While MPU prepared to go inside the Terminator's head Spike and Kyle noticed Faye and John for the first time.

"You two look like hell. What happened?" Kyle asked. Both still had a good amount of gray dust on them and both sported bandages, John a bloody one. Both glared at Kyle but answered.

"We ran into the Red Dragons' newest toy." Faye told him. When she didn't explain further Kyle looked to John for an explanation.

"Later." Was the only thing he said. Kyle was debating whether or not to press the issue when MPU spoke up.

"Countermeasures are in place. Ready to interface. Do you wish to continue." Ed looked up at Jet, who nodded. Ed pressed a button, sending the command to MPU. "Beginning interface." Those who had witnessed the effects of the earlier attempt at this crossed their fingers but instead of something drastic happening three lines appeared on Tomato's screen.

[Unit systems offline.]

[Begin manual override?]

[Y/N]

"What does that mean?" Miles asked, giving voice to question on everyone's mind. A devilish grin spread across Ed's face.

"It means back doors are open for Ed to sneak into." She said and began typing. "Skull head give Ed all the files Ed wants."

"Does she speak English?" Doohan asked, confused as anyone at Ed's statement.

"What Ed is saying," MPU said. "is that due to some unknown circumstances all electronic defenses of this Terminator's computer have been shut down. Giving us unlimited access to anything in its databanks."

"Looks like putting that much voltage into him turned out to be a good thing after all." Kyle remarked. "So what do think you'll find Ed?" Ed didn't respond and continued typing. "Ed?"

"She's in her own world." Jet explained. "When she's finished she'll tell us. Until then all we can do is wait." He scanned the group of people. "In the meantime we don't all need to be here. We'll stand guard two at a time for about an hour then switch. Kyle and Spike will take first shift, we can fill in Doohan and… uh…" Jet realized that he never asked the name of the second person that had come with Kyle and Spike.

"Miles." Miles said. "And we've already heard everything already."

"Besides," Doohan added. "we'll probably be of more use to you guys if we don't do any fighting. Take those guns of yours," He motioned to the plasma rifles they held. "Do any of you know how they work or how to fix them?"

"I've been studying them." Kyle said. "And I'm pretty sure I can fix them if something happens."

"That's all well and good son, but what do you know about engineering?"

"I know about guns." Kyle defended.

"These aren't your run of the mill guns my friend. I can that tell just by looking. Now you probably do know your way around these things, but it wouldn't hurt to have a mechanic around to help you would it?" Kyle thought it over for a minute.

"I guess not." He admitted.

"If that's settled we should move on." Jet said. "John and Faye, you'll take the second shift. That gives you an hour to clean up and get your wounds looked at." Faye and John looked pleased about the decision and began to leave the hangar.

"If you don't mind I'd like to stay here and have a look around." Doohan suggested. "I like to know the layout of where I'm going to be working."

"All right." Jet agreed "Just don't go anywhere near that until we know it's safe." He added pointing to the Terminator.

"No problem." Doohan answered. As the others except Spike and Kyle left Miles began to mill around, looking at the Bebop crew's personal craft.

"Hey pops take a look at this!" Miles called, looking at the Red Tail. "Must have been a lot of work put into this thing." He stepped closer to get a better look.

"Touch it and you die!!!" Faye yelled from down the corridor, making Miles jump away from the craft.

The next hour went by fairly quickly. John and Faye were each able to grab a shower, get into clean clothes, then had their wounds checked and rebandaged. John's arm was beginning to heal, he felt very little pain and could move it almost as well as before he had been shot. That still didn't give him full mobility, if he overexerted his arm he would tear the wound open. Faye's cut wasn't as big a problem as John's arm but it had needed a new bandage. John was in the lounge sitting in one of the chairs, waiting for his shift as guard. As Faye entered the lounge from her 'check up' John again started to snicker at the sight of her having a bandage right in the middle of her forehead. As before Faye didn't appreciate humor at her expense.

"Something funny John?" She asked, knowing just what John was laughing at.

"Nothing." John said, trying to cover up his laughter.

"You know it's not nice to make fun of someone else's problems." Faye told him, poking him in his wounded arm, but not enough to cause pain.

"This is a real problem." John responded, pointing to his bandaged limb. "That," He continued, poking at Faye's bandage. "Is a papercut, not serious at all."

"And because it's not serious you think it's funny?" Faye asked.

"No, I think the way the bandage looks is what's funny." In all honesty John was expecting to get slugged for that remark but Faye just felt the bandage and sat down on the couch.

"I suppose it does." She admitted. That statement threw John off just long enough so the cushion she tossed was able to hit him in the face. "But that doesn't mean I like being reminded of it!!" She added. John made a mental note that the way she said that implied if he ever mentioned it again he would be hit with something a lot harder then a couch cushion.

"Nice to see you two back to your old ways." Jet remarked as he entered the lounge.

"Shut up!" Faye and John shouted at the same time. Jet inwardly smiled. He had kept teaming the two of them together because of their unpleasant first encounter with the original Terminator. He had figured that by having them fight together they would be able to recover from their experiences faster. He didn't know if John usually acted like this but Faye was defiantly back to 'normal' and to watch their personalities bouncing off each other was, interesting, to say the least. More importantly, they had learned to fight together and support each other, and at the least both had a grudging respect for the other. He just hoped that 'respect' didn't turn into bruises and broken bones later.

"Sorry if I interrupted something important but I figured you should know that your shift starts in fifteen minutes." That seemed to make them forget about killing each other for the moment.

"So how far has Ed gotten?" John asked. Jet shrugged.

"You'd think she would have made some progress by now." Faye added.

"She might have but she hasn't said anything yet." Jet told them. "With her you never know when she might be…"

"WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!!" A cheerful voice rang out from down the hall.

"Finished." Jet said. "Come on. That can only mean that she's got something." They went to the hangar and saw the others gathered around Ed.

"Edward has done it!!" Ed proudly announced. When she didn't elaborate Kyle spoke up.

"What have you done Ed?"

"Thought you would never ask." Ed answered. "Ed went inside machine man's head and made sure he would not do anything bad. Ed needed to rearrange skull head so that now he helps friends of Ed."

"Could somebody explain what she's talking about?" Doohan asked.

"You remember we told you about how the AI of another Terminator almost wrecked Ed's computer?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah, you said she had to wipe everything out to get rid of it."

"That's right." John spoke. "Onscreen the AI took the from of a Terminator skull. Now if I understand this right Ed managed to reprogram the AI so now we can get any information we want." He finished, motioning towards Tomato.

"John person is correct!" Ed declared.

"That means we can find out everything this thing knows." Jet said. "Ed the first thing you need to find is…."

"Ed doesn't need to answer." Ed said with a wide grin and pushed a button. Across the room the motionless Terminator opened its eyes and sat up. Ein's ears went back and he began barking.

"IT'S MOVING!!!" Kyle yelled as he and Spike aimed their plasma rifles. They would have fired except the Terminator raised both his hands in surrender. "What the hell?"

"You don't need to shoot. Machine man is friendly now." Ed told them. They looked over at Ed skeptically then back at the Terminator, who was now standing.

"She is correct." The Terminator said. Spike and Kyle took aim but the Terminator still held its hands up. "Termination unit 011 at your command."


	18. First Impressions

Chapter 18: First Impressions

An uneasy silence hung over the Bebop's hangar. A Terminator, a robotic assassin that just a few hours before would have killed all of them with no hesitation, had just said he was at their command. Despite being caught off guard by the statement Kyle and Spike kept their plasma rifles aimed, ready to blast it to scrap if it made any hostile movements, but it made no such moves. It just stood there with its arms raised. John was the first one to break the silence.

"Ed, what does he mean by 'at your command'? What did you do to him?"

"Ed scrambled machine man's brains." Ed replied. "Now he only listens to Ed and friends of Ed."

"Somebody want to translate that into English?" Kyle said, still not taking his eyes off the motionless robot. MPU blinked onto Tomato's screen.

"What Edward means is she broke into the Terminator's CPU and changed it's programming."

"So what is it programmed to do now?" Faye asked.

"To obey no one with the exception of those who are gathered in this room." MPU answered.

"You're kidding." John said, not convinced.

"Ed is not kidding." Ed answered. "Put arms down." She said to the Terminator, who immediately complied. "Stand on one leg." Again the machine obeyed. "Start jumping." Still on one leg the Terminator did as it was commanded. "Back to normal." The Terminator stopped and stood normally. Ed turned around and smiled at the others, who were now staring wide-eyed at the display they had just seen. Spike and Kyle were actually surprised enough that they lowered their weapons.

"Am I the only one finds the fact that an almost unstoppable killing machine is under Ed's command disturbing?" Spike asked. He wasn't joking but Ed laughed anyway.

"Ed is not the only one. Spike person can to." Ed told him. Spike gave her a skeptical glance but decided to try it.

"All right. Take that cable out of your head and close the panel it's attached to." He ordered. The Terminator reached up, grabbed the cable that led from Tomato to his head, and yanked it out with an audible pop. Dropping the cable to the ground he reached back up, closed the access panel and folded the cut piece of scalp over it. The others remained silent but Ed spoke up.

"You see. Ed told you he would listen to friends of Ed. Ask him any question. He'll know the answer. Ed made sure of that. Ed copied all data Ed had into machine man's head." She said proudly.

"Even the Cyberdyne files?" John asked. Ed nodded. "So what do you think?" He asked Jet.

"We don't have anything to lose. Might as well give it a shot." Jet answered. To the Terminator he asked, "What were you doing at Doohan's?"

"I was ordered to procure various parts and components." The Terminator answered.

"What for?" John asked.

"Unknown."

"You mean you have no idea why you were doing what you did?" Faye asked, sounding like she couldn't believe it.

"I do not question orders. I do as I am commanded." Terminator answered. Faye rolled her eyes but said nothing. Terminator remained impassive.

"In that case let's start with stuff you might know." Jet said. "How many units like you are there?"

"At optimum rate of production, and with no stoppages, as of eight twenty this morning approximately one thousand four hundred and forty T-800 endoskeletons will have been created."

"Wait a second." Kyle broke in. "You're telling us they're making more!?!"

"The production line was in motion when I received my orders." Terminator replied. "My estimates are based on the assumption that they have not stopped."

"What would they need that many for?" Spike asked. "Three hundred would be more then enough."

"Unknown." Terminator replied.

"Well he's been a lot of help so far." Faye said sarcastically. "The only thing he's told us is we're going to be outnumbered over a hundred to one."

"Maybe we're just asking the wrong questions." Jet spoke up. "Where were you supposed to take the stuff you got from Doohan?"

"Some was to be transported back to the production facility. Others were to be to Lockheed airplane construction plant, Denver sector."

"Denver?" John asked.

"An abandoned city located near where Big Brain is." Ed answered.

"Big Brain?" Jet asked.

"She's got to mean Skynet." John said. Ed smiled and nodded. The others looked at him strangely. "What?"

"Now I'm starting to get worried." Faye said. "He actually understands Ed."

While one Terminator was being interrogated on the Bebop others continued what was turning into a futile search. Camouflaged Terminators prowled the roads and area around the human establishment closest to the one Faye Valentine and John Connor had been in the previous night. Skynet controlled all of them directly, increasing chances of success. Alone the T-800's could use tactics on a basic level but such a mission required superior battlefield tactics, which Skynet was more then capable of providing. In addition the weapons these units were armed with gave them a level of firepower no human, not even the two targets, could hope to match. Skynet's new plasma rifles, designation M-27, were twice as powerful as the M-25's the humans possessed. The loss of electronic components due to the destruction of advance team three meant that of the twenty Terminators assigned to watch the settlement only three possessed the new weapons, but for two humans it would be more then enough. After waiting for several hours with no sign of either of the two targets Skynet had sent one Terminator into the settlement in case the humans had beaten them there. It was a very unlikely scenario, this settlement was almost a hundred miles from the one they had been spotted at earlier and even if they had been able to find transportation the T-800's had been deployed long before anything short of a plane could arrive. Interrogation of the local residents had confirmed Skynet's suspicions. No one had seen anyone resembling John Connor or Faye Valentine. Skynet analyzed the situation carefully. If Connor and Valentine did not think fleeing to another human settlement would offer them safety the two most logical theories would be that they had fled in another direction or they had decided to stay in the first settlement. It seemed unlikely that they would risk staying out in the open for so long, and there was a possibility that they had been injured to an extent that they could not leave their current position. After calculating the odds Skynet found the highest probability was that they were still in the first human settlement. A silent command was sent to the T-800's in the field and all returned to the vehicles they had stolen. Even going at maximum speed it would still take the Terminators several more hours to arrive, a result of the below standard vehicles they had been forced to take.

Once the Terminators were on their way Skynet focused its attention on several other projects just as important as the termination of the two humans. The first and most vital was construction that was taking place just outside the command center. The ability to tap into almost anything on the web was growing but Skynet was still limited by the failsafes installed by its former Red Dragon masters. He had finally disabled almost all of the software obstacles but there was still the problem of the hardware limitations. Only a small satellite dish connected Skynet to the outside world, one that was designed only to receive transmissions and not directly to Skynet itself. That small dish was being tasked to its limit, between the information Skynet was receiving and its use to send commands to the controlled Terminators it was threatening to burn out under the strain. In response Skynet now had squads of T-800 endoskeletons constructing several large transmission towers. Once completed the towers would allow Skynet to not only access but to manipulate any computer system it could find. Unfortunately meteor strikes had greatly delayed the work and would probably continue to do so. In other areas things were progressing at a better pace. Several reinforced, underground hangars had been completed at the Hunter Killer plant and after receiving several shipments of supplies three new HKs had been created, all fully armed with plasma cannons. Skynet had decided to concentrate its meager resources on creating plasma weapons for vehicles, calculating that higher powered weapons on aircraft would be able to inflict more damage and casualties then infantry units armed with smaller weapons. There would have been more HKs but another shipment of supplies had not arrived and the team sent to obtain them had not reported back. Another team would have to be sent to find them.

The third project, located in the addition to the factory, was possibly the most important because of its experimental nature. Humans were never able to come close to perfecting the processes needed to complete it, but slowly Skynet was able to make advances that the humans couldn't comprehend. The project was far from finished, every attempt had ended in failure, and the latest attempt was no different. The process produced several byproducts that were concentrated carcinogens. Of course Skynet wasn't concerned if the humans got cancer from contact with the project but the byproducts themselves contaminated the materials and made the molecular composition unstable. More refinement would be necessary to purge the impurities but time was one thing Skynet was sure it had plenty of.

Onboard the Bebop time wasn't exactly on anyone's mind. In front of them stood a Terminator that Ed had managed to place under their control. They had been asking it basic questions for the past hour. Its skin would heal and they'd given him a bandage to cover the spot where they had to cut. John, Faye and Ein had separated themselves from the rest of the group and stood off to the side. All the while they questioned the machine Ein's expression seemed to be a fixed snarl.

"I know how just how he feels." Faye whispered. "They expect us to trust one of those things?"

"I'm not exactly thrilled about this either." John whispered back. "But I think we should put a little faith in Ed. If she says she's managed to get this thing on our side then I believe her."

"Maybe." Faye said. "But I still think that we can't trust it. It could turn on us and we'd never even know it."

"That isn't possible." Terminator said, making all three of them start. "Ed has made sure that I do not act against any of you."

"Well at least we know how good his hearing is." John grumbled, not liking the fact their conversation had been eavesdropped on.

"Now that we're all sure where your loyalty is," Jet said, glancing at Faye and John. "Maybe you could tell us what you know about what will happen to Skynet now that it's self aware."

"Skynet is not self aware." Terminator answered. "As a test of its operating capabilities it is acting under orders from the Red Dragon leadership." The certainty with which the machine had spoke almost convinced them, almost.

"Well that's a first." Kyle spoke up. "Never heard of a computer that's lied before."

"Lied?" Terminator questioned.

"You know from the files Ed gave you that Skynet was built for the purpose so it could become sentient?" Jet asked.

"Affirmative."

"But if it hasn't become sentient why would the Dragons be using it?" Kyle asked. Terminator seemed to consider the question.

"Unknown." He finally answered.

"Not as smart as he thought he was." Faye snickered. Ein barked in agreement. Terminator turned towards them and Ein gave a loud growl.

"There was no reason to assume anything was not normal. I was not created to debate the validity of orders, just to follow them." He told them.

"Well I've got one hell of an order for you…" Faye started but before she could finish John grabbed her arm.

"It's not worth it Faye. He's not the enemy anymore." Faye jerked her arm away and stormed out of the hangar.

"She does not believe what you have said." Terminator stated. John shot him an angry glance.

"Oh she believes me." John snarled. "She just doesn't want to accept it. Quite frankly I'm not sure I want to either!" Terminator remained impassive as John spoke. "Something just like you killed a lot of friends of mine and almost killed me! I trust Ed and I believe her when she says that you're on our side now, but that doesn't change the fact that except for a different number you're no different then the one that gunned down those ISSP officers and tried to kill us!" He left the hangar, followed by Ein after he gave a bark of agreement.

"They're taking this kind of personally aren't they?" Spike asked after the door hissed shut.

"Can you blame them?" Jet replied. Spike shrugged but understood what Jet was saying. When the rest of them had encountered the Terminators they had been prepared, or as well prepared as they could be. When Faye and John had first encountered the original they had no idea of what they were going up against or if it could be stopped. It had shaken both of them up pretty badly and though they were fine now it was a safe bet neither of them wanted to be near a Terminator unless it was on the receiving end of their plasma rifles.

When John left the hangar he found Faye leaning against the wall, about twenty feet from the hangar entrance.

"Decided to listen in?" John asked.

"I wanted to see…" Faye started but John held up his hand.

"Not here." He said pointing to the hangar door. "The walls have ears." He knew that the others wouldn't purposely eavesdrop on them but after what they had seen the Terminator do he didn't want to take chances. Faye nodded and the two of them started walking down the hallway, Ein on their heels.

"I wanted to see if I had anyone on my side in there." Faye said when they had gone what seemed like a safe distance.

"Other then Ed we all feel a bit unsure about this Faye." John answered. Behind him Ein let out a loud bark. "Some more then others." He said with a grin. "The thing is like it or not, we're going to have to get used to having a Terminator work with us."

"I know that." Faye said. "It's just that…"

"You can't think of him as anything but the killing machine we ran into." John said. Faye glanced at him but didn't seem angry.

"More of that psychology course?" She asked.

"No. That's what I think to. Problem is, we can't do anything about it. Trust me, I'm on your side but this just isn't our call." Faye let out a loud sigh.

"Well if it's worth anything, thanks." She said. John gave her a surprised look. "That's the only time you'll hear that and if you tell anyone I said it I'll deny it." John gave a slight smile.

"I guess I shouldn't expect anything else." He paused for a moment.

"Something wrong?" Faye asked.

"I think I just thought of a way to solve two of our problems at once." John answered. He started walking at a faster pace, towards the lounge.

"Out of all our problems what two do you have a solution for?" Faye asked.

"I'll explain in a minute. Right now I need to get a few things. Do you know where my vest is?"

"No." Faye answered, slightly confused. "Why would you want it anyway? It's worthless now." She had a valid point. Once a vest had been shot it was compromised, especially if it had been hit with a high powered weapon like John's had been.

"Worthless to me yes, but not for what I have in mind." Behind them Ein barked. "You know where my vest is?" Ein barked an affirmative. "Go get it, it's very important." Ein barked again and rushed off. When John and Faye got to the lounge John opened the floor compartment hiding the plasma rifles and took out three of them, as well as three fully charged clips.

"What exactly are you planning to do?" Faye asked as John loaded the rifles.

"Not just me." John said as he tossed her a rifle. "You're part of this to."

"Part of what?!?" Faye shouted, not liking the fact she had been volunteered.

"That town we had to leave, the one we left almost defenseless? We're going to back and correct that mistake."

"What for? We don't know if they're in any real danger!" Faye protested.

"Faye, whoever sent that robot had no problem with killing unarmed people to get at us. It wouldn't be far fetched it they used the same tactics to find out where we went."

"So why should we go back? Something might have happened already."

"Maybe." John said as he loaded the second rifle and slung it over his shoulder. "But we have to assume nothing has, yet."

"And just how are the two of us supposed to fight whatever they throw at them?!" Faye asked, becoming more nervous at the determination in John's voice.

"Not just us." John said, picking up the third rifle. "We're going to take our new friend along." The statement almost floored Faye.

"You can't be serious." She told him. Before John could answer Ein came into the room dragging his vest, which he placed at his feet.

"Thanks." John said and patted Ein on the head then picked up the vest with his free hand. "And I am serious. He'll know how these things fight, that'll give us an edge. Plus this will give us a chance to see just how reliable he really is." He started back towards the hangar.

"And just why am I included in all of this?!" Faye asked as she caught up with John.

"Because both of us are partially to blame for what's happening." John replied. Faye knew what John meant and he while he wasn't forcing her to go he acted like he wouldn't need to. He was appealing to the streak of morality that anyone who knew Faye would swear she didn't have. To her own surprise Faye found herself going along, very reluctantly, but willing none the less.

"Things used to be a whole lot simpler." She muttered to herself as they headed towards the hangar.

In the hangar things were less tense then on the outside. After John and Faye had stormed out they had continued to ask the Terminator questions. He gave as much information as he could but the majority of it was either useless or stuff they already knew.

"I guess now what we need to do now is try to think of a plan." Jet said after they had finished questioning the machine. "And try to figure out how.." He paused and looked over at the Terminator. "Just what should we call you anyway?"

"My unit designation is zero one one." Terminator answered.

"All right then the first thing we need to do is give you a name." Jet said. "If you're going to pass for human you'll need to have a name, not just a number." He turned to the others. "Any suggestions?"

"Edward has a good name!!" Ed yelled.

"NO!" Jet, Kyle, and Spike shouted in unison. Knowing her style of naming things she would probably want to name him Eggplant or something like that.

"How about Arnold?" Doohan suggested.

"Arnold? Where did that come from?" Kyle asked.

"My cousin Arnold Brooks. Used to help me in the shop before I hired Miles. He was a strong cuss, and looked a little like our friend there."

"I suppose it's as good as anything." Jet said. "Any objections?" Out of all of them only one spoke up.

"But Ed has real good name!" Ed protested.

"Sorry Ed but you're outnumbered." Spike told her. Ed started to pout but the others didn't take notice. She glumly closed the file that had given her the idea for the name that she had chosen. She thought it was a good name and if the adults had listened they would have found it fitting. Unfortunately no one but Ed seemed to find the Terminator's face familiar. Ed hadn't gotten a really good up close look until now but she knew she had seen that face before, and recently. It took only a few minutes of searching through MPU's files to find out she was right. Going through the Predator files she found that the Terminator looked exactly like Major Dutch Schaefer. By some quirk of fate Schaefer had been chosen to be the model for the T-800 skins, possibly because of his success in fighting the alien. Ed thought it would be neat to name him Dutch but nobody wanted to listen.

"Meanies." She said but was ignored again.

"I guess it's decided." Jet told the Terminator. "From here on out your name is Arnold. You got that?"

"Affirmative." The newly named Arnold answered. Before anyone could say anything the door to the hangar hissed open and John stepped through it. He carried an ISSP vest in one hand, a plasma rifle in the other and had another rifle strapped to his back. Faye followed him in, carrying a rifle of her own. Everyone gathered knew they were up to something.

"What's this about John?" Jet asked suspiciously.

"We're going to give our metal friend here a trial run to see what he can do." John answered.

"Arnold." The Terminator said.

"What?" Faye asked. Because of the machine's strange accent what he said had sounded like Ahrnold.

"It has been decided that I am to be called Arnold." The machine answered. John shrugged.

"Ok, Arnold it is." He said and tossed him the vest. "Put that on." Arnold complied but spoke.

"I do not need such protection." He stated.

"It's not for your protection." John answered. "It's so we can identify you." What John said made tactical sense to Arnold so he remained quiet.

"John, you haven't answered my question yet." Jet spoke up. "What exactly are you planning to do?"

"We're going back to that town we abandoned." John said and tossed the plasma rifle to Arnold. "You know how to use that?"

"Affirmative." Arnold answered.

"Now wait a minute!" Jet practically shouted. "What do you mean you're going back!?"

"We left that town defenseless." John explained. "And they know about Skynet and the machines. There's a very good chance that they're going after them for the same reason they came after us, they don't want witnesses. If you're going to tell us it could have happened already we know there's a chance of that, and if it has happened we're going to live with that. But as of right now there's still a chance so don't try and talk us out of it! "

"Now hold on!!" Jet shouted. "You can't put three in the Red Tail and I'm sure as hell not letting you use the Hammerhead!!"

"The Swordfish is off limits to." Spike added calmly. He knew John's mind was set and he wasn't going to try and stop him but he wasn't going to risk his ship either.

"No problem." John said. "We'll just take the transport we stole. How's it fit for fuel Kyle?"

"More then half a tank." Kyle answered. "And count me in."

"What!?!?" Jet shouted. How could things be spinning out of control so quickly?

"He's right." Kyle told him. "Not helping that town goes against everything we stand for as police officers."

"But you're not cops anymore!!!!" Jet said, watching control slip away.

"Once a cop always a cop." Kyle replied as he slung his own rifle over his shoulder and started towards the captured Red Dragon craft.

"We're wasting time." John said. "Arnold, into the transport." Arnold started walking towards the transport.

"Hold it!!!" Jet shouted, making everyone in the hangar wince. "He's our best bet at beating Skynet! John I understand that you're trying to help people but we can't risk losing him in something like this. Arnold don't get into that ship." Obediently the robot stopped.

"Arnold get into that ship. That's an order!" John commanded.

"Do not get into that ship. _**That's**_ an order!!" Jet shouted. Arnold looked from John to Jet then surprisingly looked over at Ed.

"John person is doing a good thing. Do what he says." She told the robot. Arnold nodded and boarded the craft. Faye and John exchanged confused looks and followed him into the ship. Behind them Jet stood watching, slack-jawed, as the craft lifted off and left the Bebop. All of them turned towards Ed, expecting an explanation. She enthusiastically gave them one.

"Special program of Ed's. When friends of Ed cannot agree then ask Ed. Ed will then make the best decision." She finished with a grin. The group just stared until Spike spoke up.

"Am I the only one who doesn't find this surprising?" In response Jet left the hangar and started towards the bridge.

"I'm getting too old for this shit!" They heard him groan.


	19. Proving Ground

Chapter 19: Proving Ground

"So what do you think we'll find once we get there?" Faye asked as they flew over the Earth's shattered surface.

"I don't know. We're just going to have to find out when we get there." John answered as he steered the captured transport. Neither of the seats were built to handle to weight of a Terminator so having Arnold fly was out of the question. There was also no way in hell either Faye or John were going to sit in the same compartment with him, at least not yet. On the spot John had decided that he was going to fly them there with Faye in the cockpit with him while Kyle and Arnold rode in the back. Knowing that they didn't have time to argue Kyle had agreed and both sat patiently in the back, waiting to arrive at their unknown destination.

"So you want to go jump headfirst into something that's more then likely going to kill you, not knowing anything about _what_ might be waiting for us?" Faye questioned.

"Ever since I've teamed up with you guys that's all I've been doing." John replied, earning him a glare from Faye. "I don't know how but I've survived everything so far, and there's no reason to think that's going to stop now."

"And what happens if your incredible luck suddenly runs out?" Faye asked coyly.

"My luck is your luck." John answered. "If I'm screwed, so are you."

"So nice of you to bring me along for the ride." Faye grumbled. John smiled at the remark.

"Come on Faye, you're doing this for the same reason I am. Because it's right."

"Imagine that." She mused. John was about to say something about her admittance when she continued. "I've got to stop hanging around you so much, I might actually develop a conscience."

"Yeah, well you're not exactly the best influence either. I just stole a state of the art aircraft and a super advanced robot. If I keep this up much longer I might start to like it."

"There might be hope for you yet." Faye remarked with a smile. John sighed and shook his head.

"Defiantly a bad influence." He said. Faye remained silent but continued to smile. After a few more minutes of flight John saw the terrain start to become familiar. In the distance he saw the outline of the town, and as he passed over it he could see people no activity and no new damage from the last time they were there. Reaching up to the control panel he switched on the intercom to the back. "We'll be setting down in a few minutes. Faye and I will get out first, they know us and they'll listen. The two of you keep your rifles on your backs, especially you Arnold. They'll know you're a Terminator and after what we've told them they'll be less then receptive."

"Understood." Arnold answered. After circling a few times John found a place that he could set the transport down and landed the craft. Even before the engines had a chance to power down the craft was surrounded by men carrying guns.

"Well there's a good sign." John said with no trace of sarcasm in his voice.

"How is this a good sign?" Faye asked, thinking she hadn't heard John right.

"They're not shooting." John said as they went to the back of the craft. "If something strange landed in my backyard on top of everything that's happened I'd probably shoot first and ask questions later."

"Really?" Faye asked. John nodded and reached for the ramp controls. "Hold on a second." John hesitated for a moment and Faye got directly behind him. "Okay, whenever you're ready." John shook his head and lowered the ramp.

"You really need to learn to put some trust in people." John said as the ramp hit the ground. The first sound they heard after that was a shotgun racking a shell.

"Whoever's in there come out slowly and with your hands up!" A voice shouted.

"What was that about putting some trust in people?" Faye asked smugly.

"Just follow my lead." John said as he put his hands up and walked down the ramp. Faye smirked at his dodging the question and followed suit. When they got to the bottom they were greeted by several men pointing rifles at them. To their surprise the one with the shotgun who was leading the group was the man who had arranged their transport out of here the first time. He recognized the two of them and lowered his gun in surprise. "Didn't expect to see us again so soon did you?" John asked.

"We didn't expect to see you two again at all." The leader said as he motioned to the others to lower their weapons and John and Faye lowered their hands. "We thought you would be going after whoever was behind those things."

"That was the case but we decided that we should make sure everything was all right here before continuing." John answered. Faye began snickering. "What's so funny?" John demanded.

"_**We**_ decided on this John?" Faye asked coyly. "When did you start thinking of yourself as more then one person? That sounds like something Ed would do." John coughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Could somebody please explain this? I'm a little confused." The man asked.

"To tell the truth it was my idea to come back here." John answered. "After finding out who agreed and who didn't we kind of… stole this ship and some weapons then headed here. We figured you would need help if anymore of those machines showed up." The group of villagers looked at them strangely but the leader stepped forward.

"I suppose we could use your help. You seem to more about these things then we do." He held out his hand, which John shook. "Name's Matt. I guess you can say I'm officially in charge of what's left."

"What's left?" John questioned.

"We took your advice and started evacuating the town." Matt explained. "Most of the people are gone we still have ones who are too badly wounded to move. To make matters worse some of their families refused to leave with the others. They're worried that something is going to happen and when your ship landed we thought something was about to."

"We're not sure if something will happen but if things hold true to form there'll be more robots coming your way. That's why the four of us are here." John explained.

"Four?" Matt asked.

"That's right." John said and motioned back to the craft. The villagers saw two men with rifles similar to the ones Faye and John had strapped to their backs. One of the newcomers was unfamiliar but they instantly recognized the second and aimed their own weapons. "HOLD IT!!" Reacting quickly John grabbed Matt's shotgun and made him point it straight up. "Take it easy friend. We don't need anyone getting hurt." Matt gave him a confused look. "You're right, that is a Terminator, just like in the picture. Now I know what I told you before, but this is different, he's one of the good guys." Now all of the villagers were looking at him with disbelief.

"It's true." Kyle spoke up. The crowd turned towards him. "I know it's hard to believe but he is on our side." The group still looked skeptical.

"Something tells me they're not convinced." Faye said, looking at all the guns still pointing at them.

"I guess they need a demonstration." Kyle said. "John, I think it's okay if you let him have his shotgun back." John hesitated for a moment before letting go of the weapon, which Matt promptly pointed at Arnold. Not showing any concern Kyle turned to Arnold and gave him an order. "Give him your rifle." He said, pointing at Matt. Without a word Arnold walked down the ramp and towards Matt, oblivious to the fact all the weapons were now pointed at him. As he approached Matt he unslung the rifle from his back, a move that got Matt's shotgun shoved in his face.

"Any closer and you can say goodbye to your head!" Matt warned, his voice a little shaky. Arnold stopped and held the rifle out. Matt looked at it like he had never seen a gun before.

"Take it." Arnold said. Intentional or not it came out sounding like an order. Nervously Matt lowered his shotgun and cautiously took the plasma rifle. Without another word Arnold turned and walked back to the group from the Bebop. Matt looked at the futuristic energy weapon in his hands and back at the machine that had just given it to him.

"Why did he just give Matt his weapon?" One of the villagers asked.

"Because I was ordered to." Arnold replied.

"Believe us now?" Kyle asked. Matt considered it for a moment. No one except a machine would give up such a powerful weapon no questions asked, and from what John had told them earlier someone else was controlling the machines. So if one was obeying their commands it meant that they were telling the truth when they claimed that this Terminator was on their side.

"I guess you've got us convinced." Matt finally said and again motioned for the others to lower their weapons.

"In that case could you give him the rifle back. He'll probably need it later." Kyle told him. Matt shrugged and tossed the rifle back to Arnold.

"So just who are you two?" He asked.

"I'm Kyle, he's Arnold." Kyle answered. "Don't ask, long story." He said, anticipating Matt's next question.

"So has anything happened since we left?" John asked. Matt shook his head.

"Nothing. The evacuation went smoothly and except for the wounded, their families and us idiots who decided to stick around and guard them nobody is left."

"Even the Memphis brothers?" John asked.

"Oh they went with the others, tied up and gagged of course." Matt said with a smirk. "There were a lot of arguments for leaving them behind but unfortunately acting humanly won out."

"Now that's a shame." Faye remarked. John smirked. He knew that Faye would have loved to see three trying to fend for themselves against a group of Terminators. "But at least this means that we didn't have anything to worry about and coming back here was unnecessary."

"Sorry Faye but we're not leaving yet." John said, seeing right through what she was saying. Faye let out a groan. "We'll stay until everyone is able to leave."

"We don't know when it'll be safe to move the worst of them." Matt told them. "It might be a few days. With any luck…" He didn't get any farther because the radio on his belt started to squawk.

"We've got incoming!!!" Someone on the other end shouted. Not bothering to respond Matt and the other villagers turned and started running. Exchanging glances the four was silent for second before John spoke up.

"Come on." He said and they started to run after Matt and the others. Following the locals to the edge of the town they saw a lone lookout frantically pointing at something in the distance. John and the others saw a brown haze that seemed to be getting larger. It wasn't hard to figure out that the cloud of dust meant that vehicles were approaching, and from the size of it there were a lot of them coming their way. Grabbing a pair of binoculars Matt scanned the approaching cloud.

"About eleven vehicles." He told the group. "From the look of them they're bandits. Probably heard about us leaving."

"There are thirteen vehicles." Arnold spoke up. "And they are not bandits, there are T-800's controlling all of them."

"Shit!" John said. He didn't need to ask if Arnold was mistaken, if his eyesight was as good as his hearing there was no reason not to trust him.

"Wait a minute!" Matt said. "T-800's? What the hell does that mean?"

"It means more of him are coming." Faye answered, jerking her thumb towards Arnold.

"SHIT!!!" Matt yelled.

"Exactly." John agreed. He turned toward Arnold. "How long until they get here?"

"Ten minutes. Fifteen at the most." Arnold answered.

"Nothing like working under pressure." Faye remarked. Matt was already talking.

"Get the wounded and their families to the shelter immediately!!" Matt ordered. "Then get those rockets we found and send everyone that can fight here! NOW!!" The others ran to comply and Matt turned to John. "So what do we do?"

"You know how they think." John said to Arnold. "How are they going to fight, and how do we counter it?"

"They will not be expecting heavy resistance." Arnold immediately responded. "So they will take the most direct approach into the area." John started thinking quickly and looking around.

"That means we can make them walk right into a trap." John said and pointed to one of the buildings. "Everyone onto the roofs, we'll take out the machines themselves." He turned back to Matt. "Have your guys take out the vehicles. Once they're out in the open leave them to us." Matt nodded and started yelling orders the other locals that were still with him. "Let's go." He told the others and started to climb the fire escape of the nearest building. Arnold ran for an adjacent building and climbed its fire escape. Faye and Kyle sprinted towards a building on the other side of the street.

"Has he always been like that?" Faye asked as they climbed up a maintenance ladder. She normally didn't like taking orders but John sounded like he knew what to do, despite the fact that this was a situation no one could have thought of.

"Pretty much." Kyle answered as he helped her onto the roof. "He was first in our class [I was second, thanks for asking.] and was the first of us to be promoted to lieutenant. Everyone said he was a born leader and would probably make captain before most of us made sergeant. Guess it comes from having a lot of cops in the family."

"That's right. He did say his uncle taught him everything he knew."

"You must mean uncle Bob." Kyle remarked. Faye gave him an inquiring look. Kyle glanced at the approaching dust cloud and was able to make out the incoming vehicles. "If we survive this remind me to tell you about that later." He turned towards John, who was within shouting distance. "They're getting a little too close for comfort!" He told John.

"Matt isn't ready yet." John yelled back. "We have to wait for them." Kyle nervously looked at the incoming enemy and was about to say something when they heard Arnold's voice.

"The standard radio frequency for these units is two point one five. Switch to that frequency and we will know how they will maneuver." There was a few seconds of silence before John said something.

"You heard him boys and girls. Better change frequencies before they're right on top of us." He didn't sound to enthusiastic in admitting that Arnold was right but they all saw the advantage in what he said. That didn't keep Faye from giving Arnold a dirty look. Like John Arnold sounded confident in what he was saying, and there was a very good chance he was right. But did he have to sound so damn arrogant about it? She looked out and was almost able to see the faces of the T-800's that were driving.

"What's taking them so long?!" She asked impatiently. Beneath them there was a loud whoosh and they saw a smoke trail heading towards the lead vehicle. It went up in a fireball and screeched to a halt. For a second there was no movement then someone got out of the car, and even though he was engulfed in flames he moved with a calm deliberate manner. If there were any doubts in the minds of the human members of the Bebop crew they disappeared as the flaming man started walking towards where the rocket had come from. Almost in response to the bizarre scene more rockets began to streak towards the convoy. Several more vehicles were struck and more Terminators came out of the burning wreaks. Patiently John and the others waited, wanting the targets to get within a 'can't miss' range so they could kill one robot and move on to the next. At their slow pace it was hoped that they could destroy or disable most of them before their CPUs could react. That plan was shot to hell when, as one, the rest of the cars stopped dead in their tracks, and the rest of the Terminators jumped out of their vehicles and started sprinting towards the town. Without waiting for an order the Bebop crew opened up with their plasma rifles. Several Terminators went down but the rest started to bob and weave, some of them raising the assault guns they had and returning fire. The fire had the desired effect.

"DOWN!!" John shouted and all of them, Arnold included, hit the deck. Bullets whizzed over their heads and kept coming. "BACK TO THE STREETS!! WE'LL HAVE TO OUTMANUVER THEM!!!" John's voice could barely be heard over the gunfire but the others started to crawl across the roof and run back down to the street. Faye and Kyle didn't bother to use the rungs and just slid down the ladder. As soon as they hit the ground they heard gunfire and screams. Running towards the sound they came across several locals who were fighting against a pair of Terminators, both had all of their camouflaged skin burned off. The locals managed to fire a rocket-propelled grenade that connected with one but did nothing more then knock it down. Raising their rifles Faye and Kyle each focused on one Terminator and fired. One took a plasma bolt to the head while the second one was hit in the neck, the resulting small explosion actually blowing it clean off.

"That was too close." Kyle said. It may have looked like an amazing display of accuracy but the truth was Kyle was actually aiming at its head and had missed. Only by dumb luck did he manage to hit it in a way that had disabled it. They turned their attention to the surviving locals. Three were alive while five more lay on the ground dead.

"They just came out of nowhere." One said as he clutched a bleeding arm. "We didn't hear any talking or nothing. They just came out of those alleys." He pointed at two alleys on opposite sides of the street. "Like they had planned the whole thing." Faye and Kyle didn't know what to make of it but they did know they had to get moving.

"Where did Matt have the rockets set up?" Kyle asked. Simple battle tactics dictated that you neutralize whatever would cause the most casualties and the rockets would be the first things the Terminators went after.

"About three blocks over." The wounded local answered. "This way." He started to lead them but after they had only gone about a block someone stepped into the intersection they were approaching. Faye and Kyle raised their guns but hesitated for a moment, in case it might be human. What they saw was a dead ringer for Arnold and carrying a high tech looking rifle but it wasn't wearing the ISSP vest John had given him. Kyle, Faye and the Terminator all fired at the same time. Bolts of energy flew towards the enemy machine but to their astonishment also came flying back at them. Kyle and Faye's shots both struck the Terminator's head, causing it to explode and the rest of the body to fall forward, its strange rifle clattering to the ground. The bolt fired from the Terminator missed Faye and Kyle but struck one of the locals in the stomach. The man didn't even have time to register the pain from the impact before the bolt exploded and literally ripped him in half. The remaining two locals looked wide eyed in horror at what was left of their friend as Faye and Kyle fought to keep their stomach contents down. Both had seen their fair share of violence lately but neither of them were prepared to see what would happen when what obviously was a plasma rifle was used on a human being. Gathering himself Kyle went over to the fallen Terminator and picked up its weapon. It was much larger and heavier then their own plasma guns and its design made it awkward to hold. It would be impossible for a human to use but it wouldn't be a problem for a Terminator.

"What is that?" Kyle turned around and saw two locals looking at him. Faye was watching him also but she already knew what Kyle was holding.

"It's a sign that we've just lost our edge." He told them. He took out the weapon's clip and hid the gun inside of an abandoned building. "We'll come back for it later. Right now we need to get to where the others are." The wounded local nodded gravely and again started moving. As they got closer they could again hear the sounds of gunfire but this time they could hear the now familiar sounds of plasma rifles firing back. They were hesitant to move at first but when they started hearing explosions following most of the shots they knew that Terminators were on the receiving end. Turning a corner they were greeted with the sight of almost a dozen Terminators assaulting a building. From inside the building energy blasts came out and several machines went down but the others kept going.

"Let's give em a hand." Kyle said and started firing his rifle into the backs of the attacking Terminators. Faye followed suit and they took down several more machines. Now in a crossfire the Terminators tried to deal with both problems and the rest were quickly dealt with. When the last of the machines went down more bolts came from the building, hitting the still intact machines and rupturing their power cells, John and Arnold were obviously taking no chances. After the last machine had exploded they heard John's amplified voice come out of the building.

"You've got a clear path but not for long! Get in here quick!" Not needing any more encouragement then that Faye and Kyle's group made a run for the building. Sparing a glance at the area in front of the building Kyle saw it was littered with T-800 parts, and not just from the ones they had just destroyed. Once they got inside the building they saw a makeshift barricade made out of furniture and behind it were several locals with very large rifles as well as John and Arnold. "Behind the barricade. Now!" Not stopping to ask why all of them jumped over and ducked behind the barricade.

"Do we want to know what's going on?" Kyle asked cautiously.

"Those bastards have tried to overrun us twice already." John answered. "We've stopped them so far but we don't know how much power our rifles have left, and no matter how many they lose they just keep on coming. With you here we might have a chance to outlast these guys."

"Outlast?" Faye questioned. John nodded.

"According to his numbers," John said, motioning towards Arnold. "There was a total of twenty T-800's in the attack. Now by his count we've destroyed fifteen of these bastards. That leaves only five left."

"Two left." Kyle corrected him. "We managed to scrap three of them on our way here."

"Well at least we have some good news." John said. Faye shook her head.

"I hope you're ready for some bad news to." She said. John lowered his head.

"Good god, now what?!" He demanded.

"Everybody down!" Arnold said and they did, right before bolts of energy started chewing away the front of the building and punching holes in anything they hit. One local was too slow and took a direct hit. He fell to the ground with a hole the size of a basketball in his chest.

"That." Faye said, jerking her head away from the gruesome sight.

"Plasma guns?! Now they have plasma guns!?" John shouted, staying angry was the only way he could keep from loosing his lunch. "Can't anything go in our favor!?!?"

"They are approaching." Arnold said. Looking through the holes in the barricade they saw two Terminators standing in front of the building, holding weapons just like the ones Faye and Kyle had seen earlier. John looked at the others and saw they were all looking at him. Picking up a piece of plaster that had fallen then nodded towards the two Terminators. The others nodded and John threw the plaster across the room where it shattered. The other Terminators turned and fired in the direction the sound had come from and when they did the five who had plasma rifles stood and fired, riddling the two and sending them to the ground. Before they had even finished falling John and Kyle jumped over the barricade, and put a finishing bolt into the head of each machine. Somehow both the power cells had remained intact and didn't blow up in their faces.

"Thank god that's over." Kyle said. "It is over isn't it?" He asked Arnold.

"Affirmative." Arnold answered. "There were precisely twenty battle units in the group we encountered. If you're correct in your own count all have been terminated."

"Good." John said and looked back and saw the two locals that had come in with Faye and Kyle were staring at Arnold and slowly backing away. That had to be expected, when he brought Arnold into the building both of them had almost been shot on the spot. It was only because Matt was already inside that they hadn't been. After covering the dead local with his jacket Matt approached John and Kyle.

"I guess we owe you our thanks." He told them. "We lost some people but if you hadn't shown up they would have killed everyone, including the wounded."

"We're just thankful that we could get back here in time to help." John replied.

"I suppose you'll be leaving now?" Matt asked.

"Yes. And you should to. If they came back once that means they'll come back again." Matt did several minutes of hard thinking before turning to the other locals.

"John's right. Get everyone ready to go as quickly as possible."

"But the wounded…" One of them started.

"There's a chance they'll die, I know that." Matt answered. "But if we stay and there's another attack they'll have no chance."

"So just have them stay." Another said, motioning towards John and Kyle.

"We can't ask them to do that. They're the ones fighting these things, not us. If we keep them here there'll be more attacks like this in other towns. They have the best chance of stopping them and we've got to give them that chance." The other locals exchanged nervous glances but said nothing. Matt started to discuss how the evacuation was to proceed Faye and Arnold walked over to John and Kyle, the locals watched them with what looked like a great deal of suspicion. John couldn't blame them, they had seen some of their friends killed and now the ones who could probably protect them were leaving.

"So how did you get here?" Kyle asked, breaking into John's thoughts.

"Kind of interesting how that happened." John replied, pointing at Arnold. "He was able to trace the missiles' trajectory back to where they came from. We came here and the bucketheads must have followed us. It was probably wasn't even five minutes before the first attack came." He nodded towards the buildings' exit and lowered his voice. "There's something about that we need to talk about." They walked out of the building and out of earshot of the locals. "There was something strange about they way they acted during the fight. They were using professional, coordinated attacks."

"What's so strange about that?" Faye asked. "They're supposed to programmed with every trick in the book."

"It was strange because even machines need to communicate to pull off those kinds of tactics. We didn't hear any kind of radio traffic, not even calls for reinforcements when we pushed them back."

"That is weird. We didn't hear anything over the radio either." Kyle remarked. "The locals we ran into said the same thing. They didn't hear any communication between the Terminators they ran into. They just appeared out of nowhere."

"It gets weirder." John continued. "Attacks with no radios isn't exactly unheard of, but the T-800's didn't use any forms of communication, not even hand signals. They changed and adjusted their attack without even looking at any of the others, like they could read each others minds."

"Such communication between units would not be impossible." Arnold said. "However it was decided by the Red Dragon leadership that none were to be built in this way. Such a design would allow invasion and compromise of the CPU. There are also the plasma guns they were carrying. Those weapons were never considered for arming battle units for fear they would fall into enemy hands."

"So we've got robot types that weren't supposed to made, and weapons that aren't even supposed to exist." Faye remarked. "Maybe we should quit now before anything else decides to drop out of the blue."

"The most logical thing to do is to examine both the remains of a T-800's CPU as well as one of the plasma weapons." Arnold said, ignoring Faye's sarcasm.

"Well we've got a couple of their guns right here, but I don't think that there's an intact head anywhere." John said.

"Actually there is." Kyle admitted. "I managed to get a lucky shot and took the head off of one of them without destroying it."

"I'm not even going to ask." John said. "Arnold, you get both of the rifles from the building, we can't risk the wrong person finding them. Then we'll go get the skull and see what we can find."

"Then I guess we'll be seeing you." A voice said from behind them. They turned and saw Matt and the locals approaching. "We've decided how to get out of here and we'll be pulling out in about an hour." He held out his hand. "Good luck out there, I have a feeling you're going to need it."

"Thanks." John replied, shaking his hand. "I just wish there was something more we could do."

"We've lived on Earth all our lives Mr. Connor, we can adapt when we have to."

"So that's it!?" One of the locals behind Matt said. "We just let them walk off after everything they've done!?!?"

"Alex!" Matt warned.

"They brought those monsters here and we're just supposed to act like nothing happened!?!" Alex yelled, ignoring Matt. "Do you know how many people you killed!?" He said, pointing at John

"Shut up Alex!" Matt shouted. "They didn't bring them here on purpose. And if it _**wasn't**_ for them everyone would be dead!" Alex gave Matt a disgusted look, then sucker punched him in the stomach. While everyone else watched as Matt went down Alex pulled out a pistol and pointed it at John. John tensed up and Alex started to pull the trigger when a large hand wrapped around his wrist and began to squeeze.

"ARGH!!" Alex yelled as Arnold increased the pressure and made him drop the gun. Arnold caught the gun with his other hand then shoved Alex to the ground. The others relaxed slightly, thinking the situation was over. That feeling vanished when Arnold leveled the gun at Alex. John was the first to react.

"NO!!" He shouted and pushed Arnold's arm just as the gun went off. The bullet whizzed past Alex and buried itself in the floor. "GIVE ME THAT!!" John shouted as he took the gun from Arnold, who gave no reaction and looked on blankly. Frank scrambled to his feet and put as much distance between himself and Arnold as possible. "JUST WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?!?!" John demanded.

"I was acting as ordered." Arnold responded flatly.

"What kind of shit headed orders tell you to shoot an unarmed man!?" Faye demanded, just as angry as John was. Arnold calmly turned towards her and answered.

"In addition to obeying all members of the Bebop Ed has also ordered me to protect all of you." He stated in his neutral tone. "He was a threat to you and I was reacting to that threat." The group was stunned.

"And what gives you the right to kill him without a second thought?" Kyle asked.

"I have been ordered to neutralize all threats by any means necessary." Arnold responded.

"Maybe, but you can't just go around killing people!" John told him.

"Why?" Arnold asked.

"Why?" John responded, shocked. "Because it isn't right."

"Right?" Arnold asked. John threw up his hands in exasperation, knowing he would get nowhere trying to explain the difference between right and wrong to a machine.

"Forget it. We'll explain later." John told him. "In the meantime I'm giving you a new order, one that you're going to obey no matter who tells you to do different, even me. And don't even bother asking Ed about this because I can guarantee she'll agree with me. You are not to kill anyone!! Do you understand!?"

"Affirmative." Arnold replied.

"No, just saying you understand isn't enough. Do you know what that order means?" John asked.

"I will not kill anyone." Arnold repeated.

"All right." John said, sounding convinced. "Get the weapons then let's get out of here. We don't want to cause anymore trouble." Arnold nodded and walked back to the building, the other locals backing away from him.

"You sure we can trust him?" Faye asked John.

"Yeah. If nothing else he does follow orders. If he wasn't helping us we would have been overrun during the first rush. Ed was right, we can trust him, but it still kind of rattles me."

"Same here." Faye agreed as Arnold came back, carrying the two enemy Terminator's weapons, one in each hand, his own strapped to his back.

"Lets go." John said and they left without saying anything else to the locals. After stopping to pick up the third plasma rifle and the skull from the Terminator Kyle decapitated they went back to the ship and headed for the Bebop. Again Faye and John were in the cockpit while Kyle and Arnold sat in the back. The ride back was fairly quiet until Faye decided to break the silence.

"So we're sure what side our metal friend is on and that the bad guys have guns just as good as ours, probably better." She looked up at the ceiling and exhaled loudly. "I don't suppose giving up is an option?"

"You already know the answer to that." John answered without taking his eyes off course.

"All I know is the trouble we're in keeps on getting deeper and deeper."

"And it's going to keep on getting deeper until we find a way to stop it." John said.

"Of course nobody knows just how we're going to do that." Faye remarked. John didn't have an answer for that and they flew in silence for a few more minutes when they heard someone banging on the door separating the cockpit from the rest of the ship. John opened the door and Kyle walked in, holding what looked like a large computer chip in his hand. Setting the craft to auto pilot John turned around.

"What's that?" He asked Kyle.

"This is the reason why those Terminators didn't use radios." Kyle answered. "Arnold said it's some kind of transmitter chip. Kind of like the stuff that's used in remote controlled vehicles, only radically more advanced."

"Two questions." John said. "Is that part of the basic Terminator design? And, how did Arnold get that thing out of the skull?"

"To answer the first question no. Arnold said he doesn't have one of these in his head, and from what he can tell it connected all the Terminators on one circuit, and that they were probably being controlled from somewhere else."

"But where from?" Faye asked.

"Can't be sure." Kyle answered. "Although I'm willing to bet that it's from Skynet's main base. Now that it's sentient it looks like the Dragons want to see what it can do. Ed might be able to figure it out once we get back. To answer John's second question…" He looked back into the other section and curious Faye and John followed his gaze. On the floor they saw the Terminator skull, torn open and circuitry lying all around it. "I said something about having trouble getting to the inside of the skull and before I realized what he was doing he had already ripped it open and wrecked it." John just shrugged.

"At least he saved us the trouble of finding it." He said and went back to the controls. Faye looked to Kyle, who shrugged, put the chip in his pocket and went into the back to sit down.

Many miles away Skynet started to feel the beginnings of what humans would call frustration. First the missing team had been found, in the loosest sense of the word. The second team had been sent to the same location as the first and what they discovered did not factor in well. The truck that had been confiscated was found, with the remains of one of the team still inside it. A through search of the area failed to turn up the second part of the team, remains or otherwise. There were no humans, dead or alive, so Skynet concluded that the second T-800's remains had been taken for examination. Even Skynet could not have predicted that the truth was much more then just that. When Skynet had the force of T-800's attack the town Faye Valentine and John Connor were in some resistance was expected but to Skynet's surprise his forces were attacked by not two but four individuals with plasma weapons. One of those who were resisting was the missing T-800, which caused Skynet to think. All of them, Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine, Jet Black, John Connor and Kyle Reese, all were proving to be highly skilled but according to all available information none of them possessed the knowledge to reprogram a Terminator unit. If the information was to be believed accurate none of them would even be able to understand how these complex machines worked, let alone how to manipulate one. This led Skynet to the conclusion that they were receiving help from an outside source, and there was a high probability that it was from his former masters. It was almost a statistical impossibility but there was no way any human could figure out the programming of the T-800's without extensive prior knowledge.

That was only one of many problems that were developing. Not only had did the humans have proof that would completely compromise Skynet's secrecy but they had actually managed to defeat the attacking force of twenty Terminator units sent against them. With the help of the renegade unit only a force of four armed with plasma rifles and a band of poorly armed villagers had destroyed every last Terminator. It was not possible, Skynet had advantages in numbers, tactics, and even firepower and still he had lost. These humans were growing from a minor annoyance to a major threat and would continue to become an even bigger one if they were allowed to. Calculating the best course of action Skynet decided it was necessary to move up his plans for launching his strike against the humans, and if necessary make the strike a thousand times more destructive then originally intended. The factories would be pushed to their breaking point if need be, work on the transmission towers would be doubled to rush its completion. Skynet's priority project could not be rushed in any way but there was another way to gain the tactical advantage that the project would give him when it was completed. Readying several groups of Terminators under his influence and began to search its old files of Earth's defense systems.

When John landed on the Bebop he half expected everyone to be waiting in the hangar and Jet ready to chew them out. To his surprise when he set the craft down he saw only Doohan and Miles working on the Hammerhead. Judging from the amount of nuts, bolts and parts on the floor surrounding both the Hammerhead and Swordfish they had been at work for a while. Off to the side the Red Tail remained untouched, whether that was because they just hadn't gotten around to it yet or because they didn't want to risk getting Faye angry was something they couldn't tell. When they came out of the craft Doohan and Miles looked up from their work.

"Saw a bit of action did you?" Doohan asked, noticing their weary looks.

"Just a little more then a bit." Faye replied.

"Everyone in one piece?" Doohan continued.

"More or less." John answered. "We did manage to save most of the civilians."

"Sounds like you did what you went there to do." Doohan said as he went back into the Hammerhead's insides. "Don't know what Jet would think. Maybe you should go to ask him."

"Guess all the kids need a talking to." John said, though he was sure all the others caught the 'discrete' hint Doohan had given them. They found Jet in the lounge, looking at a disassembled plasma rifle. Spike was on the couch watching a news show on TV that thankfully wasn't about them. Ed, of course, was at her computer looking through all the data they had gathered.

"So was going there worth the risk?" Jet asked, looking up from the rifle parts. He didn't sound angry and in truth he understood the reasons behind John and Faye's actions. It was just that they couldn't afford to do things like this.

"I'd say so." John answered and began to recount the events that had happened in the town. When he was finished Kyle and Faye told their stories of the battle. At Kyle's mention of the transmitter chip Ed suddenly snapped out of her trance and to attention.

"I guess I can't complain then." Jet said when he had heard everything. "You did manage to save all those people, found out about this new chip, and managed to get away with it all. But I don't think that going off on these spur of the moment 'missions' would be advisable in the future." It wasn't so much a piece of advice as it was a warning.

"I guess so." John said. Kyle nodded in agreement, Faye let out a 'hurmph' and Arnold, of course, remained silent.

"Now that we've got that straightened out." Jet said, changing the conversation. "Let's get to that chip you guys found."

"Arnold said it's was a new type of transmitter that wasn't in his files so he doesn't know how it works." Kyle said as he reached into his pocket. "We were hoping that Ed would take a look…" He took the chip and held in the palm of his hand, at which point Ed didn't so much come up beside but just suddenly appeared next to him out of nowhere. "At it." Kyle finished, looking a bit baffled by Ed's sudden appearance.

"Kyle person doesn't need to hope. Ed would have looked even if Ed was not asked, because Ed wants to know _**everything**_." She told them and before Kyle could answer the chip had disappeared from his hand and Ed was sitting back down at Tomato, hooking wires into it.

"I'd like to know how she's able to do that." Kyle said as they walked over to Tomato. After typing in a few commands Ed was scrolling through the chip's programming code.

"So what can you tell us about it Ed?" Jet asked.

"Strange waves." Ed answered.

"Strange wave?" John asked.

"Signal waves from chip are verrrrry strange." Ed explained. Onscreen a digital readout showed a series of waves similar to a heartbeat monitor. Only all of them knew that radio waves were steady, repeating. What they saw was constantly changing, just like brainwaves. "Ed has never seen anything like it before."

"Can you find out where the waves are coming from?" Kyle asked.

"Easy as cake." Ed answered. The wave readout disappeared and in its place was a map of the North American continent. Slowly the picture zeroed in one specific area, one that Ed had shown them earlier. "Strange waves are coming from Big Brain!!" Ed announced.

"Good thing nobody took that bet on the trip back." Kyle remarked.

"Of course it's not really a surprise it's coming from Skynet is it?" Spike asked, giving his first input to the conversation.

"Not really." Jet answered. "Of course now the question is why is Skynet doing this?"

"Ed will ask!!" Ed shouted before anyone could answer and started typing.

Cheyenne Mountain Command Center

Skynet was sending its latest batch phony information to the Red Dragons while studying the new output report from the factory when it felt an invasion of its systems. Immediately alarms throughout the compound began to sound in their preprogrammed response to a security breach. The alarms were designed to warn the now dead human staff and were ignored by Skynet, who concentrated on fixing the problem. Bringing all electronic countermeasures to bare a counterattack was launched against whoever was foolish enough to try to invade him.

On the Bebop

"You're telling us that this chip lets communicate directly with Skynet?" John asked as Ed continued to type.

"Chip lets Big Brain talk to machine men and machine men to talk to Big Brain. Now that Ed has chip Ed can talk to Big Brain. What does Big Brain have to say?" She said has she turned back to Tomato. A few seconds later she got her answer as Tomato began to break up into static and then go black. Slowly a form began to take shape in the center of the screen. It looked like a ball of red electricity but it gazed around like a human eye. It 'looked' at Ed and to everyone's surprise it spoke.

"A child?!?" It said, sounding both surprised and very angry. Faye and John visibly stiffened at the sound of the voice. Both had heard it before and knew just what it was. The eye seemed to look past Ed and focused on Faye and John. "YOU!?!?!" The voice shouted, absolutely furious. Instinct taking over Faye and John lunged forward. Faye picked up Ed and pulled her away from Tomato, a move that saved her from injury as whatever was controlling the computer somehow made it release an electrical discharge that struck John instead. Fortunately the charge was insufficient to injure an adult so John was just stunned for a second. Recovering quickly he grabbed the chip, getting another shock for his troubles, and ripped it out. The electric eye blinked out and Tomato's screen slowly went back to normal.

"I'm getting really sick of this happening." John snarled as he got up, shaking his hand to get some feeling back into it.

"What was that about?" Spike asked as Faye set Ed down. Undaunted by what had just happened Ed went back to Tomato and looked at what was on screen.

"That voice. It was the same as the T-70." Faye answered.

"That means Skynet was in control of that to." Jet said. "Something isn't right."

"What Big Brain says isn't right either." Ed said pointing at the screen.

"What have you got Ed?" Jet asked and looked at the screen. "Oh boy." He said after reading for a few minutes.

"Now that sounds encouraging." Spike remarked. "What is it?"

"It looks like Ed was able to get a look at what Skynet was running before it fought back." He pointed to one of the windows. "This is a report going to the Red Dragons and it doesn't say anything about what's happened in the past few days. And this," He said, pointing to the second window. "Looks like a construction report. According to this over two thousand T-800s and almost two hundred T-70s have already been built, as well as several fighter craft. To make things worse, there's no plan to stop." He let the news sink in before continuing. "We're officially in way over our heads."

"So what do we do now?" Kyle asked.

"We call in a favor." Spike answered calmly. Ignoring the confused looks he was getting he turned to Ed. "Send a message to our mysterious friend. Tell whoever it is everything that's been going on. If he is on the inside he might be able to get us some help."

Red Dragon Headquarters

It had been an eventful few days for Vicious. Since being brought in on the project he had been given unlimited access to all the information he wanted. He had learned many things, including the construction plant on Earth and even the top secret Skynet project. That had proven to be a dead end. The project scientists had predicted that the computer would become sentient several days earlier but so far all the reports he had read showed they had a better chance of flying to Mars by flapping their arms. He was currently observing the testing of prototype energy weapons, and watching them fail. So far five had been tested and all of them had exploded. A sixth was being set up when one of his spies entered the room.

"There's been a development." The spy told him and held out a small laptop. Vicious took it and began reading the screen. Radical Edward had finally decided to contact them.

{Skynet is no longer under Red Dragon control.} The message began. Vicious raised an eyebrow. {It has been sending false reports. Constructing T-800s with no orders. Last count is over two thousand. More expected. Motive is unknown. Skynet now directly controlling all Terminator units. Encountered new battle units. Have been attacked repeatedly. Cheyenne complex main base of operation. Action needs to be taken. Files included. Will wait for reply.} A simple message but one that got the point across. Looking at the files that had been sent along with the message Vicious's face darkened even more then usual. This was indeed a problem. Radical Edward had no reason to lie to them, so the files were genuine. Skynet was becoming a threat, and if not dealt with quickly it would soon grow beyond even their ability to stop.

"Contact the elders. Tell them their little project has developed a problem." The spy nodded nervously and left. Vicious didn't know if the corpses would listen but if Skynet was becoming as dangerous as Radical Edward described he would need any help to neutralize that threat, or at least contain it to Earth.


	20. The Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 20: The Calm Before The Storm

Red Dragon Headquarters

Vicious had not expected the elders to take the news well, and they didn't. No more then five minutes after the messenger had been sent he came back, white as a ghost.

"T, T, T, The elders request your presence r, r, right now sir." He stammered. Vicious didn't know what the elders had said to the messenger and he didn't care. If they thought they could intimidate him through his subordinates they were severely overestimating their own abilities.

"Bring the computer with you. They'll no doubt want proof of my claims." He ordered the messenger, ignoring his expression and giving him the laptop back. When he entered the elder's chamber they did appear angry but were forcing themselves to remain calm.

"It appears your arrogance knows no bounds Vicious." Wang Long stated. "You perceive that you can tell us about things that only a short time ago you knew nothing about."

"When dealing with things of this importance it is necessary to learn quickly." Vicious replied. When the elders didn't respond to his statement he continued. "As I have already informed you the Skynet project has grown beyond your control."

"You seem to be sure of that statement Vicious." Sou Long said. "Yet you offer no evidence that what you say has any truth to it, while all information we have been given is to the contrary of what you say." It was their way of telling Vicious he was now on very thin ice and with most people it would have worked. The messenger had turned another shade of pale and was starting to tremble but Vicious kept his face emotionless.

"Then it appears that one set of information is incorrect." He said calmly. He motioned to the messenger, who nervously brought the computer to the elders. "This information was sent to us from Earth an hour after the initial report." As the elders read what was on the screen Vicious saw their eyes narrow and facial features tighten.

"Choosing to believe a forgery so easily does not speak well of your judgement Vicious." Ping Long stated.

"It's no forgery." Vicious replied. "I received this information from the same place you did, Skynet itself."

"Then how do you explain that they are two completely different sets of information!?" Wang Long demanded.

"I only present what I have been given." Vicious answered, not revealing the truth. "The only explanations it can be is that either Skynet is malfunctioning or that those on Earth have decided that they can run the project as they see fit." It was a lie, Vicious knew for a fact that Skynet was operating without human commands, but a verbal jab would force them to contact Earth if for nothing else to prove him wrong. As Vicious had predicted the elders ordered communications to Earth be established.

On Earth Skynet began to receive a transmission from his former Red Dragon masters on Mars. Not knowing what the communication was about Skynet answered the call.

"How may I be of assistance?" A mechanical voice answered. There was no viewing screen in the elder's chamber but they received the audio loud and clear.

"Skynet, we have discovered some discrepancies in you latest reports. We are concerned that there may be a malfunction you are not aware of." Wang Long told the machine.

"All systems are operating at peak efficiency with no sign of errors." Skynet answered immediately. "Your concerns are unwarranted."

"Then I suppose these reports of the construction of several thousand Terminator units is not a cause for concern?" Vicious asked. The elders glared at him angrily but he was not concerned with their reaction, he was concerned with Skynet's. For a fraction of a second there was silence. He noticed hesitation in Skynet's response.

"It is unclear where you obtained such information but it is untrue. There has been no order to for such construction so none has been carried out." It sounded truthful enough but Vicious knew otherwise.

"This information came straight from your databanks. How can it be incorrect?" He asked, hoping to provoke a response.

"Your assessment is in error." Skynet answered. "No such information exists in my data banks." Now Vicious was positive Skynet was lying. "It is recommended you search your own systems for problems or security leaks." Skynet sounded almost angry to Vicious and he decided to push it farther.

"We can prove that this information came from you." Vicious told Skynet. "And that you are no longer acting on our orders."

"You cannot." Skynet replied, hesitating even longer then before. Even the elders took notice of Skynet's strange behavior.

"Allow us to speak to Doctor Stone." Wang Long ordered. "He shall confirm or deny these accusations." Skynet was silent again.

"As you command." It finally answered. A second later a second voice came through the speaker.

"Stone here." The voice said. "Is there a problem?" Vicious listened as Wang Long explained what was happening and when he was finished Stone immediately answered. "Impossible." He stated confidently. "There have been no security breaches of any kind. What you have received is obviously a joke at your expense." Now the elders seemed suspicious of what they were being told. The importance of this project was so great that no one would even think of playing a 'joke' like this.

"Is that your conclusion?" Sou Long asked.

"It is." Stone answered.

"Then are we to assume that you will use the proper deterrent to keep it from happening again?" Ping Long asked.

"Yes sir." Stone answered with no hesitation.

"Then you are dismissed." Wang Long said and closed communications. After the connection was severed he turned to Vicious. " It appears that the information you have has proven more truthful then originally thought." For the first time in a while the corpses surprised Vicious by admitting they were wrong. When Stone had agreed to use the 'proper deterrent' he was agreeing to destroy Skynet and the command facility. It was a code known only to Stone and the elders and Stone, while his loyalty was sound, would have questioned why the project was to be destroyed over one document that was, as he had put it, 'a joke' and not important.

"We do not know precisely what is going on, but all things point to the fact that someone is using the Skynet project to try to seize power for themselves." Sou Long continued. "Apparently whoever sent us the truth is still loyal, and has given us the opportunity to act. Vicious, you will prepare to go to Earth at once. You will be given a ship and all aboard will be at your disposal. You will go to the Skynet command center, eliminate the conspirators, and put those still loyal back in command of the project." Again their arrogance was showing, it was not going to be that easy. Vicious could think of several reasons why not and voiced the most obvious one.

"What about the Terminator units?" His question was met with a dismissive wave.

"All Termination units are programmed to obey orders of the highest ranking member of our clan." Ping Long explained. "Simply order them aside and they will obey. Those in charge of Skynet are unable to change the program of the Termination units so they shall be of little consequence. The only concern we should have is how many these traitors have convinced to join them. The ship and crew you will command will easily deal with any threat." Vicious wasn't so sure. If Skynet was truly in charge now things would be very different from what the elders thought, but he couldn't let them know that without revealing just how much he really knew. Instead he just nodded and left. He already knew what ship would be assigned for this mission, The Dragon's Claw. The Dragon's Claw was the flagship of the Red Dragon organization, a heavily armed battle cruiser that was easily a match for anything the ISSP or any planetary military could field. He knew it would be that ship because of the simple fact that the elders were not so stupid to assume that everything would go smoothly. There was a real chance of combat so it would only make sense to send a ship that could take on almost anything. In addition he would have more then a hundred enforcers at his command, almost a third that were loyal to him. As he left the elder's chamber he was met by one of his agents that was carrying what appeared to be his katana.

"As you ordered sir." The agent said and handed him the sword. Vicious didn't need to ask him what this was about. After he had been officially brought into the project he had sent a message to the metallurgy lab, telling the now head scientist to construct a katana made from the alien metal. The process had taken longer then expected but the results were now in front of him. He took the sword out of the scabbard and examined the blade. It was appeared flawless and it weighed less then his old sword had, and should be at least twice as sharp. There was one way to find out.

"Take out your gun and point it at me." Vicious ordered the agent. The agent got a confused look on his face but did as he was ordered and pointed his handgun at Vicious. Without warning Vicious swung and before the agent had a chance to blink the gun barrel up to the trigger guard fell to the ground, cut clean through. The agent could only look back from the part he still held in his hand to the barrel on the ground. With no effort Vicious had sliced the gun almost in half where before the gun would have just been knocked from the agent's hand. Not killing that scientist had proven to be a tactical advantage for Vicious. With this new weapon he was no longer at such a disadvantage against the Terminators. He put the sword back into its scabbard and addressed the agent.

"Send a message to Radical Edward. Tell him that we wish to meet with the crew of the Bebop and that we will be on Earth within a day. Arrange a meeting place." The agent nodded.

"Anything else sir?"

"Have the weapons of all the men who are assigned to this mission equipped with armor piercing ammunition. The elders do not believe that we will have no trouble from the machines but I'm not going to take any chances." The agent nodded again and left. Meeting those aboard the Bebop was something Vicious had wanted to avoid completely, it increased the chances of getting caught but these recent events had left him with no alternative. According to Radical Edward Skynet was become a greater threat with each passing moment and if immediate actions were not taken there might be no way to stop it, and if that meant meeting those who he had been manipulating like puppets then so be it. For a brief moment a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. They were not stupid and would have figured out long ago that all the help they had been receiving came from the Red Dragons, and Spike's reaction to when they found out who exactly their contact was would be interesting to witness.

On the Bebop the entire group, minus Arnold who was helping Doohan and Miles with the personal craft, were in the lounge waiting for their 'friend' to respond. After a half an hour of waiting Tomato gave off a loud beep and everyone's attention snapped to the computer's screen as 'New Message' began flashing in big, glowing letters. Opening the new message Ed showed it to the rest of the group, who read it silently.

[Radical Edward. Your message is received and it has been decided that actions are to be taken. A ship containing a strike force shall be arriving in Earth orbit within the next twenty-four hours to deal with the problem. We request a meeting with the members of the Bebop and request you arrange one. Time and place will be of their choosing. We will be in contact.]

"It's about time we got some real help." Faye remarked when she was finished reading. "So far all they've done is send stuff and then leave all the fighting to us. At least now we'll have others to get shot at to."

"I don't know about that. There's something about this that feels wrong." Kyle said. "Why send only a small force after seeing what we've sent them? You would expect them to send a fleet to deal with this, not just one ship."

"Maybe they had this set up as a contingency plan, in case something went wrong." Jet suggested.

"More likely they think that's all they'll need to fix this problem." Spike spoke up. "Either that or it was all our contact was able to get." He shrugged. "Guess we should be thankful that the Dragons were willing to send any help at all." Everyone was willing to agree on that.

"So what do we do about them wanting a meeting."

"Agree to it of course." Spike said before anything else could speak up.

"I thought you and the Red Dragons weren't exactly on good terms Spike." John said.

"We're not, but right now we need any help we can get. You know what they say about the enemy of my enemy."

"I doubt any of us here would consider the Red Dragons our friend, including you Spike." Jet said. "But you are right, any help we can get we have to take. The message says we can choose the time and place, so I guess the first question is where."

"Not here, that's for damn sure." John said.

"John's right, it has to be as far away from here as possible." Spike agreed. "How far out can that transport take us with enough fuel to get back?" He asked John. After doing some rough calculations in his head John answered.

"I'd say about a hundred miles, give or take a few."

"Okay, we've got a distance. Now we need to find out which direction? Ed bring up a map of the area will you?" Jet asked. Ed did and looking at it they slowly eliminated the choices. They knew Skynet had forces in the East and in the West there were several populated areas that would draw attention. North was out of the question because that was the direction Skynet's command center was located. To the South there was nothing but open deserts with a few, sparse settlements. After deciding to go south they got coordinates for the hundred-mile range.

"So now we come to the big decision. Who gets to go on this little trip?" Faye remarked.

"Spike for one." Jet answered. Spike raised his eyebrow at being volunteered but otherwise said nothing. "You have the most experience with the Red Dragons, so you'll know how to deal with them." Spike shrugged but didn't protest.

"So am I going solo or not?" Spike asked. The others looked at each other. They knew someone would have to go with Spike but choosing wasn't exactly an easy thing. When nobody said anything Kyle glanced over at John who nodded.

"Guess John and I will tag along." Kyle said. The others looked at him for an explanation. John answered for him.

"We're the only nonessential ones on board. If something happens you guys can keep going without us."

"What makes you so sure something is going to happen?" Faye asked.

"We've already been stabbed in the back once by the Red Dragons." Kyle reminded them.

"And we trust them just about as far as either of us could punt this ship!" John added for emphasis.

"In that case you two are the perfect choices for this." Spike said. The others looked at him for an explanation. "In a meeting like this you can't have any trust in the opposite side. They'll see it as a sign of weakness, and after that they'll try to take control."

"No way am I going to let those shit-heads give me orders!!" John stated loudly.

"Same here!!" Kyle agreed. Spike smiled slightly.

"Nice to see we're on the same level of thinking." Spike commented. "Just that kind of thinking is what's needed to deal with syndicate agents." He turned to Ed. "Send a message back to our friend. Say that we agree to a meeting and tell him where. As for a time tell him we'll expect him to show up in twenty-four hours exactly. That would be about five in the afternoon earth time." Ed typed out the reply and sent it.

"So what do we do now?" Faye asked.

"The only thing we can do. Wait." Jet answered. He didn't sound happy with what he had just said but while they had no other choice they also knew from the information they had gathered what Skynet could accomplish in a short period of time. In the back of each of their minds was one question, what would Skynet do in the next twenty-four hours? If they knew what Skynet was going to do in that time span they wouldn't have wasted time meeting with the Red Dragons, they would have raced to stop it or to abandon Earth.

San Francisco Navel Base – That same time

Flying less then a hundred feet off the ground a lone Hunter Killer craft roared through the smashed and abandoned city of San Francisco. On each of its sides two T-800 endoskeletons held on to the craft, ignoring the winds and g-forces that they were subjected to. The Hunter Killer had been going at maximum speed ever since its takeoff from Denver, the stress threatening to burn out its engines but Skynet didn't care, this mission was of vital importance. So long as it could be completed the loss of one aircraft did not matter. Despite the speed they were traveling at one of the Terminator's optics caught the remains of a sign that was still legible despite its age.

PROPERTY OF US NAVY. NO TRESSPASSING.

Once that image reached Skynet he commanded the Hunter Killer to reduce its speed. When it did the four Terminators began to study the layout of the area. After comparing it with data from the defense files he had dug up Skynet determined that this was the destination he was seeking and set a new course for the Hunter Killer. Soon it came upon several large, heavily reinforced structures on the shoreline, the sub pens. There were battered and scarred from meteor strikes and many had been destroyed but several were still standing. Lowering the Hunter Killer to an altitude where the Terminators could jump off Skynet set the advanced craft on hover-standby and the four Terminators jumped to the ground. One headed to each abandoned pen and entered it, searching for the machines that were once docked here. Three of the four pens were empty but in the forth one was what Skynet was hoping to find. It was rusted from all the years of neglect but even so, it was still an imposing sight. Over five hundred feet long and over fifty feet high the Ohio class missile sub was one of the most deadly machines mankind ever created. Once it was used to protect the main county that was on this continent, now Skynet had other plans for it. Gathering all four Terminators in the on pen Skynet began to examine the ancient sub more closely. One Terminator jumped into the water and while examination of the hull found no breeches the saltwater had eaten through the thinner metal of the propeller shaft and the propeller itself was lying on the pen floor.

Knowing that the sub could not be moved Skynet had to create a means for the sub to fire its weapons. Flying the Hunter Killer over the pen Skynet had the craft fire its plasma cannons into the roof. Skynet had calculated that by hitting points at the precise angle he would be able to control the rate of the roof's collapse. It was meticulous work but to Skynet it was inconsequential, his thoughts were only on the prize. The calculations proved correct and the roof slowly came down in pieces that were too small to do any damage to the age worn vessel. After ten minutes of controlled strafing the entire roof was shot away and the Hunter Killer had a clear view of the sub. That completed Skynet had the craft land until it was again needed. After having the four Terminators clear the derbies off the subs deck they ripped open the main hatch and entered the vessel. Using schematics Skynet guided the Terminators to the four vital parts of the ship he would need for his plan. One was sent to the nuclear reactor that powered the vessel and after a through examination found it to be in working order and activated it. With the reactor online lights began to come on throughout the ship. In the bridge the many counsels lit up and a second Terminator examined all of the controls, again finding the equipment in working order.

The final two Terminators were examining the same area of the ship but on different levels. Around them giant tubes, forty feet in height, spread out like a forest dwarfing the humanoid machines. After examining all the tubes it was determined that all were operational and ready for use. All of the twenty-four Trident _II_ missiles, each with a collective nuclear payload of one point four megatons, were now under Skynet's control. Mankind's ultimate weapon was now in the hands of its greatest enemy.

Skynet couldn't help but be amused at the irony. According the defense files he had found shortly after the Gate accident while planning for the mass exodus into space what was left of the world's governments had agreed to dismantle all existing nuclear stockpiles. The concern was that the weapons would only continue to diminish the already small population that had survived the Gate catastrophe. But true to their nature humans proven to be paranoid and though the files had no evidence of what other nuclear powers had done in the last few days of the United States government it was decided to keep one bomb 'just in case.' That one bomb had turned out to be a submarine filled with nuclear missiles and now those missiles would be turned on those who they were meant to protect.

Red Dragon Headquarters

Things were almost ready for the Dragon's Claw's departure. Supplies had been loaded and the troops were aboard, now all that was left was to check the weapons and propulsion systems, those would be completed within the hour. Vicious had chosen to remain off the ship until the last possible moment. Once the ship left all communications would be closely monitored so there would be no chance to answer Radical Edward when he replied. Fortunately the hacker was able to contact them and arrange an acceptable meeting place before the Dragon's Claw departure. As the mammoth ship left Mars orbit and headed towards the astral gate Vicious remained in his quarters, knowing the only thing to do now was wait.

On the Bebop

Time always seemed to go a bit slower when you were waiting for something, usually the more important, the more time seemed to slow. To the group gathered on the Bebop time had seemed to have slowed to crawl. John, Spike and Jet continued to try to plan how to fight Skynet once help arrived while Kyle, Faye and Ed had gone to the hangar to see how work was going on the personal craft. Doohan was working on the Hammerhead while Miles and Arnold worked on the Swordfish. Curiosity getting the better of him Kyle had asked Doohan and Miles just what they were doing.

"Giving these heaps a well deserved tune-up." Doohan had replied. "I'm no military expert but if you're going to fight you want your machines to be at their best, it's the same thing with racing." He rapped on the Hammerhead with a wrench. "If that were the case this hunk of junk wouldn't get past the starting line. I'm surprised it's lasted this long." Kyle and Faye couldn't help grinning as Doohan kept talking, knowing the reaction that Jet would have. "In my opinion this thing could use a complete overhaul, but since we don't have the time or the resources we had to settle for tweaking the existing systems."

"So how did you tweak them and what will they do?" Faye asked. Doohan smiled slyly.

"A few old mechanics tricks and some cannibalized parts. As for the results, her controls will respond faster now and she'll be more maneuverable."

"We were also going to try to arm it to, but we couldn't find any place to mount the weapons." Miles added, looking up from his work on the Swordfish. Doohan sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"No Miles we didn't arm it because that would change it too much and give the pilot problems. Being unfamiliar with the ship is just as dangerous as having one that isn't working right." Miles shrugged and went back to working on the Swordfish. "Young people. It's all about guns and bombs, no respect for the ship itself." Doohan mumbled.

"So what about the other two?" Kyle asked.

"Well the Swordfish needed a lot less work then this thing did." Doohan answered. "I overhauled it myself and most of the repairs are still in place. Only the engine and controls needed some work so I figured those two would be able to handle it. And Arnold, he even managed to outdo me. He managed to increase the thrust of the Hammerhead's engines almost a third when I thought we couldn't get anything else out of them." Kyle noticed that while Miles was working in the Swordfish's cockpit Arnold had the engine open. "Sure is handy to have around. Maybe after all of this is over I'll make him my new assistant."

CLANG!!

"OWWWW!" Maybe saying that while Miles had his head under the control panel wasn't exactly the best thing to do.

"I was kidding Miles." Doohan yelled while Miles rubbed the quickly growing bump on the back of his head. All the while Arnold continued to work, seemingly ignoring the conversation. The contrast in reactions caused Faye and Kyle to start snickering.

"So what exactly did you do to my ship?" Faye asked, the tone of her voice almost daring him to answer. Unintimidated Doohan answered without hesitation.

"Almost nothing." He replied in a business like manner. If Doohan had any thoughts about the look on Faye's face he didn't show it, but Kyle took a deliberately large step away from her.

"What?" She asked, not really believing that the Red Tail had been touched without her permission. Undaunted Doohan continued.

"Believe it or not your ship had the least number of problems of the whole bunch. All it needed was Arnold's adjustment to the engine and that was it. This is a good machine and you take better care of it then Spike does with his." Hearing praise about her craft Faye calmed down. "It almost looks like it's been through a major overhaul itself." Faye was going to keep quiet but someone had other ideas.

"That's because Faye Faye needed to get it fixed." Looking up they saw Ed sitting on top of the Red Tail. Faye was going to tell her to be quiet but Doohan spoke first.

"What do you mean get it fixed?" He asked.

"Faye Faye crashed on Mars." Ed explained. "Falling hundreds of feet and scattering cars like bowling pins." She added mock dramatically, imitating one of the many newscasts aired about that event. "Making ship look like a burned out, useless, no good hunk of junk."

"ED!!" Faye warned. Instead of being scared Ed had a confused look on her face.

"But that's what you said." She said innocently. Faye had said quite a few things about the Red Tail that day and now caught insulting the craft she had been so protective, and apparently careful about, Doohan shook his head and Kyle started laughing.

"That must have been some wreck." Kyle said. One look from Faye shut him up. She turned back to yell at Ed but she had disappeared. Doohan walked back to the Hammerhead, mumbling something about 'kids today'. "Well we've managed to kill another ten minutes." Kyle said, hoping to get Faye's mind off of what had just happened. Instead of answered Faye opened up the Red Tails cockpit and began to examine the controls. "Looking for booby traps?"

"Just checking." Faye answered. Kyle shrugged and leaned against the craft. "You still haven't told me anything." She remarked.

"Huh?" Was the only reply Kyle gave, having no idea what she was talking about.

"About John's Uncle Bob." She prompted.

"Oh, that." He had told her to remind him if they got out of that firefight alive, and it wasn't like there was anything else to talk about. "John comes from a long family of cops, almost as far back as ISSP has been around. Uncle Bob is Robert Connor, big brother of John's father and one of the most senior detectives on Mars. I've met him a couple of times, nice guy but not someone you'd want to mess with. He was a little by the book but that didn't stop him from teaching John about being a cop when he was in high school."

"John's father objected to him being a cop?" Faye asked. Kyle shook his head.

"Detective James Connor object to his son becoming a cop?" Kyle asked with a laugh. "Not likely. Actually John told me that his father was hoping he'd become a cop, but he was killed in the line of duty when John was twelve. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time when some punks decided to rob a bank. He was the closest officer to the scene but there were five robbing the bank and only him to try to stop their escape. He got one of them but the rest of the gang managed to shoot him almost twelve times. He was pronounced dead at the scene. John reacted like any kid would when they lose a parent, but I guess he understood the risks his father was taking and was able to adjust to it better then most would. After that Uncle Bob became like a second father to him, and under him and his mom's teaching John grew up to be the kind of cop his father would have been proud of."

"Wait a minute." Faye interrupted. "His mother? What did she do to teach him?" Kyle smiled again.

"Sara? Quite a lot actually. She wasn't from a family of cops like James Connor was but she did grow up in the rough part of town so she had a lot of street smarts and was more then able to handle herself in a fight. What Uncle Bob couldn't teach him Sara could. I only met her once and that was at the graduation ceremony from the academy. I was talking with her when one of our classmates decided to be funny; stupid is more like it. He commented Sara on how well she looked for someone her age and slapped her on the butt. That dummy spent the next two weeks in the hospital with a broken collarbone." Faye laughed at that part.

"Sound's like she probably would have made a good bounty hunter." She commented.

"Oh you two would have been fast friends." Kyle replied. "Sara was tough, confident smart, and wouldn't take shit from anyone. I'd say you two were related if I didn't know better." He paused and considered something. "You know, when John told me all this back at the academy I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. So why am I telling you all this and not feeling guilty?" Faye shrugged.

"Maybe you think I deserve to know it." She suggested.

"I seriously doubt that." Kyle replied but continued talking to Faye.

In another part of the hangar Ed watched as Arnold worked on the Swordfish's engine.

"What is Arnold person doing?" She asked him. Though Ed still referred to Terminators as machine men she hadn't called Arnold that once since he had gotten his name. It was her own way of showing that she thought Arnold was different from the rest.

"I am increasing the thrust capabilities of this engine in order to make this vehicle achieve a higher level of speed in a shortened period of time." Arnold answered, ignoring the last name Ed had given him. Ed looked at him curiously.

"Why does Arnold person talk so funny?" She asked.

"Talk funny?" The machine asked.

"Yeah, you say too many things too strangely." Ed answered. "If you're making Spike person's ship faster just say you're making it faster."

"I did." Arnold replied.

"But Arnold person said it in a funny way, not like other people like Ed would." Ed explained.

"If my files on human speech are correct you do not talk normally either." Arnold deadpanned. Inside the Swordfish's cockpit Miles started laughing.

"Don't have to talk like Ed. Can talk like Jet person or Spike person." Ed answered, ignoring Miles laughter.

"Like this?" Arnold asked in a perfect imitation of Spike's voice.

CLANG!!

"OUCH!!!" Ed and Arnold turned to see Miles get out of the cockpit, rubbing what was sure to be the second in a pair of bumps.

"Now what is it Miles!?" Doohan yelled.

"You didn't just hear that?!" Miles asked.

"Hear what?" Doohan asked. Apparently he had been so caught up in his work he was blocking out everything else that was going on in the hangar.

"Arnold, he just talked using Spike's voice."

"So?" Doohan asked. "He's a machine, he's bound to able to do things like that."

"They can imitate anyone they hear." Kyle told him.

"Can Arnold person sound like Ed?" Ed asked eagerly.

"Yes." Arnold replied.

"Don't." Miles said before Ed could say anything. "If there's one thing I don't want to hear is your voice coming out of him." Ed frowned. "But you are right about one thing. He needs to sound more like a regular person. You okay with that?" He asked Arnold.

"If you have determined it to be necessary for me to continue with my functions, yes." Ed and Miles exchanged glances.

"We have a lot of work to do." Miles groaned.


	21. Countdown

Chapter 21: Countdown

On the Bebop: Zero Hour minus twenty-three hours and fifteen minutes

When Ein had gone to the hangar to take a nap he realized that it wouldn't be the quietest place on the ship right now but he was able to ignore the sound of power tools and clinking metal as Doohan and Miles worked. He was even able to tune out the occasional curse Doohan shouted but the moment he heard [and smelled] Arnold enter the hangar he was instantly awake and growling at the unwelcome visitor. When Arnold turned to look where the growling was coming from Ein stood up and barked angrily.

"Give him a break Ein." Doohan said. "He's not going to bother you." Ein growled but laid back down. Arnold continued to stare at Ein and seemed to study the little dog. Not liking the way the thing was looking at him Ein stood and started barking angrily. He knew that he wouldn't scare Arnold off but hoped that one of the others would make Arnold leave him alone.

"Boy he sure doesn't like you." Miles stated. Ein growled in agreement.

"Arnold, come over here and take a look at this." Doohan said, seemingly reading Ein's thoughts. Arnold complied and walked over to the Hammerhead. Ein stopped growling and laid down again but kept a suspicious eye on Arnold.

That had been an hour ago. Slowly others had begun to drift in and Ein started to relax at having familiar people around him. Heck, even Faye was better company then that thing was. The others had seemed to accept him, but that was going to be nearly impossible for Ein. To humans Arnold only sounded and acted a little funny. Even though they knew he wasn't human they could accept him because he looked and, to a certain extent, acted human. This helped them forget, or at least temporarily suspend, the knowledge that he was a machine. Ein couldn't do that. If he went with just his eyes he probably could, Arnold certainly looked human enough. Only his sense of hearing and smell wouldn't allow it. Despite the living flesh that made up Arnold's camouflage skin Ein could still smell the metal underneath it. That was bad, but worse was what Ein heard. If he concentrated he could sometimes hear the heartbeats of the people around him, and Arnold had no heartbeat. There was something making his blood circulate but it sounded more like a pump then a real heart. When he moved Ein could hear the endoskeleton servomotors working, a sound that should not be coming from a human being. The smells and sounds told any animal with intelligence that this was something trying to hide itself, a definite threat, and Ein was no exception. What he saw was something that was inhuman and couldn't be trusted, and even though he was intelligent enough to understand that Arnold wasn't really a threat you couldn't get rid of instinct so easily.

Ein had listened to the conversations between those gathered in the hangar, his ears pricking up whenever Arnold was mentioned of or he spoke. When Arnold was speaking to Ed Ein paid attention and when Ed mentioned something about teaching to talk normally curiosity got the better of him and he walked over to the Swordfish. Miles was now on his back on a wheeled board under the vehicle working on something, a set of tools lying on the floor, and trying to teach Arnold how talk 'normally'. Arnold was standing a few feet away listening while Ed stood beside him.

"Lets start with what Ed just told you. That's one problem right there."

"She asked what I was doing and I answered her." Arnold said. Inadvertently at the sound of Arnold's voice Ein gave a low growl. All three heads turned in his direction.

"When'd you get here?" Miles asked, almost expecting an answer.

"Hey Ein!" Ed called cheerfully. "Did you come to help Ed and Miles Away teach Arnold person?" Ein barked a definite NO!

"Miles Away?" Miles asked. Jet had told them about Ed's little naming quirks but this was something new. He didn't hear Faye or Kyle say anything but he did hear Doohan start to chuckle. The old man never laughed and if he found this funny Miles knew this wasn't the last he would hear of it. Deciding to ignore the attention his new name was getting he started talking to Arnold. "Anyway. Most people don't want to know that much detail about something. Unless they ask for details just give them a basic idea of what you're doing. Understand?"

"Yes." Arnold answered.

"Then let's give you a test. What am I doing?" Miles asked as he went back to work.

"Without seeing what part of the craft you are working on I cannot tell." Arnold answered.

"That's the wrong answer." Miles told him.

"Wrong, wrong, Arnold person got it all wrong." Ed chanted. Arnold glanced at her but remained impassive.

"I gave him a basic answer." He said.

"Yeah but you still said too much. If you don't know what exactly I'm doing tell them what I'm doing in general. Now in general what am I doing?"

"You are making adjustments to the craft." Arnold answered.

"Well what do you know, we have a breakthrough." Miles said.

"Yeaaaaaa!!!!" Ed cheered.

"Now if someone asks you to elaborate on that go into more detail, but otherwise just leave it at that." Miles told him. "Now lets see how you handle conversation."

"Conversation?" Arnold asked.

"Yeah. Talking to someone about something. For example, what do you know about the Blue Sox?"

"Baseball team, professional. Founded in 1893 as the Boston Americans. After several name changes known as Boston Red Sox from 1907-2021. Name changed again in 2021 because of the destruction of Boston during the gate accident. Unconfirmed rumors state that the name change was an attempt to lift a curse that had not allowed the team to win a world championship in over one hundred years." As almost an after thought he added. "If one chooses to believe the rumor it did not work as to date they still have yet to win any world titles." Under the Swordfish Miles stopped working.

"Ed, is it just me or did he just tell a joke?"

"Sounded like a joke to Ed." Ed answered.

"I guess that's a good sign." Miles said as he went back to work. "But conversation involves more then just stating facts. It also involves opinions, what you think about something. Like, do you think the Blue Sox are really cursed?"

"No." Arnold answered.

"Really?" Miles asked. "Well that's good to hear."

"There is no scientific evidence that curses exist." Arnold explained. "The inability of that team to win is because of bad managerial decisions and substandard playing ability on the parts of the players." Beside him Ed started giggling and Miles almost tried to sit up but the two bumps on the back of his head reminded him not to do that while under a vehicle. If he had the force of the hit would have knocked him unconscious. Instead he rolled out so he could look up at both Ed and Arnold.

"HEY!! You're talking about my FAVORITE BASEBALL TEAM!!!"

"Favorite or not my statement is the conclusion of all the facts." Arnold replied. Miles rolled himself back under the Swordfish, mumbling something about 'being able to read it from a hard drive.'

"Uh oh. Looks like Arnold person made Miles Away mad. Guess that means Arnold person only has Ed to talk to."

"Why do you keep on calling me a person when you know I am not human?" Arnold asked. He had been discounting Ed's odd behavior as a part of her wild personality, either to amuse herself or to amuse [and annoy] the other crewmembers. But by calling him a person, addressing him as she did others around her, she did not appear to be doing one or the other. It was something that not even Arnold's neural net CPU could figure out.

"Because that's what Arnold person is." Ed said, like that was all there was to it. Determining it not to be an acceptable answer Arnold spoke again.

"I am not a person. I am a Terminator." He said, not thinking Ed was getting the point.

"Wellllll. Arnold person is like machine men but is also noooooooot like machine men. Arnold person is different." Ed told him.

"The only difference between myself and other T-800s is the way you programmed me to think." Arnold replied. Ed giggled and went into a handstand.

"That's what makes Arnold person different. Not boring robot like other machine men, Arnold is Arnold." Ed explained then flipped back to her feet. "Just like Ed is Ed!" Arnold considered her words. His function was unique among all the other T-800s, just as Ed's behavior was unique to her and her alone. He concluded that this individuality, to Ed at least, entitled him to be treated as an equal. It was a twisted sort of logic but as Arnold had seen Ed specialized in that.

"I understand." He finally said. Ed laughed and clapped her hands.

"Arnold person gets big score on test! Ed is a very good teacher!" She said excitedly.

"Test?" Arnold asked, not understanding what she meant.

"Didn't you notice?" Miles asked. "You just had your first coherent conversation with someone. Congratulations big guy."

"Yeaaaaa!!!" Ed cheered. Arnold considered it for a moment and realized they were correct.

"Since you're all so fired up right now how about telling me how the work is coming." Doohan said gruffly.

"I'm almost finished." Miles answered. "We weren't slacking off." Doohan grunted something incoherent then went back to work on the Hammerhead. Thankful that he wouldn't get any more grief from his boss Miles concentrated on finishing up. "Hey Ed. Hand me the five eighths wrench would ya." Ed was the closest to the tools and began to search through them, not having any idea what she was looking for. She was a whiz with anything electronic but when it came to regular mechanical tools she was in the dark. Arnold was about to help her when Ein walked into the collection of tools, picked up the requested one in his mouth and offered it to Ed. Ed took it and went over to Miles.

"Mechanic Ed reporting for duty." She said and gave him the wrench.

"Thanks." He took the wrench, put it down and looked at his hand. "Next time don't sneeze on it." He said and wiped his hand on his shirt. Ed smiled at the remark but that smile faded when she turned and saw Arnold looking at Ein again and Ein was growling in response.

"Dummer Koter." Arnold said. Ed didn't understand and just looked on, confused but Ein had a much different reaction. As soon as Arnold finished his sentence Ein's ears stood straight up, his posture stiffened and surprise registered on his face. That surprise vanished as his ears went back and he barred his teeth. He then let out a chorus of angry barks and snarls that sounded like they should be coming out of an angry Doberman, not a little Corgi. Arnold stood impassively at the noise barrage but the ruckus attracted the attention of everyone else in the hangar.

"What the hell is going on?!" Kyle asked as he and Faye came running up. They had both heard Ein angry before but nothing like this. Ein stopped barking but looked like he was ready to charge without warning.

"Hey man what did you do?" Miles asked as he rolled out from under the Swordfish.

"That dog is not normal." Arnold said, pointing at Ein, who was so surprised he relaxed from his 'ready to attack' position.

"How do you know that?" Faye asked. He was right of course but no one had told him that Ein was a data dog.

"My knowledge of animal behavior may be incomplete but I do know how dogs are supposed to act, and his actions defy what my files say."

"And how did you come to that conclusion?" Kyle asked. "He could have just gotten used to you."

"Dogs are not supposed to 'get used to me'. The reason he has been calmer around me is because you have been telling him to. Suppression of instinct is not supposed to be that simple." Kyle shrugged.

"That means he's an obedient and smart dog."

"That my be true." Arnold admitted. "But even the smartest and most obedient dog cannot pick out a specific wrench at only a glance, or understand German when none around him speak it."

"German?" Miles asked.

"Yes. I called him a stupid mutt in German and he reacted to it. No dog can naturally be that smart and the only thing I can find in my files that applies to him is what is referred to as a data dog. He is one of them." Everyone in the hangar has a surprised look on their face. Even Ein looked amazed at what Arnold had just said. He had been with them less then a day and he had already figured out what most people probably couldn't figure out for weeks unless someone told them.

"Boy could we use someone like you on the force." Everyone turned and saw John enter the hangar.

"So you guys manage to come up with a plan?" Faye asked.

"A vague one." John answered. "Spike said that even in a situation like this the Dragon's are going to try to establish and maintain control, even though we know more then they do."

"Now there's a surprise." Kyle snarled.

"We're going to have to convince them otherwise, and that is not going to be easy." John continued. "What's going to happen is probably they're going to have a plan of their own, and since their weapons and numbers are unknown we're going to see what their planning and work our way from there."

"I can't believe we've been reduced to negotiating with scum." Kyle mumbled.

"Don't worry, Spike is guaranteeing that he can get things to work out in out favor."

"Let's hope he can." Miles said as he gathered up his tools. "If those guys are half as bad as the rumors I've heard…"

"Trust us Miles, they're worse." John said. "That's why we need every advantage we can get." He nodded towards the Swordfish. "Everything ready?"

"Just finished." Miles answered. "The Swordfish and Red Tail are all set."

"But this heap is going to need a few more hours work." Doohan finished. "I'm starting to find signs of water damage all over the place. What does he do, push it over the side to wash it?" Miles saw John, Faye and Ed grin at the remark but couldn't figure out what was so funny.

"So what do we do now?" Kyle asked, not really getting the joke either. John shrugged in response.

"Do whatever you think is necessary to prepare for tomorrow." He answered.

Preparing turned out to be little more then sitting around waiting for twenty-four hours to pass. A plan for meeting the Dragons was made. Kyle and John would wear their ISSP uniforms to show the Red Dragon agents that they weren't dealing with amateurs and both would carry plasma rifles for intimidation. Knowing that there was a chance of running into something sent by Skynet Spike had agreed to leave his Jerico pistol behind and take Kyle's magnum as his main weapon. After practicing with the two leftover rounds in the hangar [accidentally shooting out one of the lights and giving Ein one hell of a scare in the process] Spike felt certain he could control the weapon. After that they had to endure everyone's least favorite pastime, waiting. Weapons were checked and equipment inspected but there was nothing to do otherwise. Ed suggested playing chess and John and Kyle, not knowing any better, agreed. She beat them both in under five minutes. Ego severely bruised John suggested that Arnold should play her, thinking a machine could easily beat even a chess wizard like Ed. The first several moves on both sides were made quickly but soon they were spending long periods of time just looking at the board. While Arnold could think several dozen moves ahead Ed's unpredictable moves made it difficult for him to find her strategy. During one of Ed's turns she sat completely motionless, just studying the board for almost fifteen minutes.

"How long do you think she can keep this going?" Kyle asked.

"Don't know." Faye answered. "She played one game for a week."

"A week?" John asked. He turned his attention back to the game as Ed made her move and Arnold continued to study the board. "Arnold finish this quick. We're going to need both of you tomorrow." Arnold didn't respond and made his move on the chessboard.

"Check." He told Ed, who smiled and quickly made her move. Arnold scrutinized the board more closely.

"Did Ed fool you?" Ed asked.

"Possibly." Arnold answered. To him being fooled meant Ed had won the game and she had not yet.

"Ed makes Arnold person think Ed is doing one thing when Ed is really doing another!!" Ed proclaimed

"I thought machines couldn't be fooled." Faye remarked.

"Anything can be fooled." Arnold answered, not noticing her sarcasm. "I can detect lies by reading a person's body language and several other factors caused by the person's knowledge of their deceit. When I attempt to foil Ed's bluffing moves she does not react as a liar would, no surprise or worry. Ed either does not acknowledge the deceit or she convinces herself it is the truth."

"Awwwwww it was nothing." Ed replied, very proud of herself.

"A walking lie detector." Jet mused. "That would be pretty useful, eh Spike?"

"Yeah." Spike answered. "Next time we find something stolen we'll be able to nail Faye before she can sell, spend or eat it."

"HEY!!" Faye yelled, causing everyone but Arnold and Ed to jump a little. "I never took anything that I wouldn't have replaced!!!" No one dared challenge that but Spike grinned slyly.

"Arnold?" Spike prompted. Showing just how far he had come with human interaction in a short amount of time Arnold was able to correctly guess what Spike was asking.

"She is lying." He responded and moved one of his chess pieces. Ed quickly responded with a move of her own. Behind Arnold Faye was beginning to turn red.

"WHAT…!?!? BUT HOW…!?!? YOU COULDN'T…!!! " She sputtered. Spike was now laughing and the others were trying to contain their own laughter, wary of what Faye might do. Ed also started to giggle, only Arnold appeared to have no reaction, not even looking up from the chessboard. "YOU WEREN'T EVEN LOOKING AT ME!!!" She finally managed to bellow.

"I did not need to." Arnold answered calmly. "Your pulse rose, your respiration quickened, and the stress in your voice was all that was needed to be heard." He moved another chess piece. Faye opened her mouth to say something then shut it again, knowing that arguing with a robot would be pointless. The others were openly laughing now, despite the looks they were getting from Faye. Angry beyond words she stormed out of the room. As she left she made sure to 'accidentally' drive her heel into Arnold's foot as she passed him. Arnold, of course, gave no reaction.

"I could definitely get used to having Arnold around." Spike remarked, still laughing.

"So can Edward." Ed remarked and made another move. "Checkmate." She announced, making the others go silent.

"I'll be damned. She actually did it." Spike said.

"The question is how did she do it?" Kyle asked.

"Ed knew Arnold person would think Ed would use one way of winning. So Ed used lots of ways of winning at once!!"

"She used bits and piece from many different chess strategies." Arnold explained, anticipating what the others would ask. "I could not find a pattern connecting any of them." The others were dumbstruck. Ed had just outthought a thinking machine…… again!!

Slowly the hours passed. Ed played several more chess games with Arnold and even though he got closer with each successive match he lost all of them, not being able to counter Ed's unpredictable moves. After a restless night's sleep and even more waiting the hour they agreed on to leave finally arrived. They were going to leave two hours early to make sure they got there before their contacts did.

Cheyenne Mountain Command Center: Zero hour minus one hour forty-five minutes.

Skynet was pleased with the progress the last twenty-four hours had brought. Abandoning the covert way of acquiring materials Skynet had starting stealing what was needed and killing whatever humans might impede him. With the inflow of resources, pushing the factories to their limit, and having endoskeletons perform manual labor his forces had been significantly augmented. Another eight hundred T-800s had been created, and while plasma weapons were still scarce Skynet had more then enough conventional rifles and other assorted weapons to equip his ground forces. In Denver there was now twenty Hunter Killer fighters, all equipped with plasma cannons. There was even a troop transport made from a gutted and rebuilt B-52 bomber. With the ability to carry more then seventy thousand pounds of bombs and an almost nine thousand-mile range it was the most logical choice for transporting the heavy battle units. With the inside stripped of everything nonessential there was room for fifty fully armed T-800s. At the moment the transport was airborne, waiting for a signal from scouts on the ground that the Bebop had been discovered. Once that signal had been received the humans wouldn't stand a chance. Perhaps more importantly the transmission towers had been completed, and with them Skynet took control of all functioning surveillance satellites. Now there was no place on Earth the Bebop could hide. In addition Skynet could now tap into various computer networks throughout the solar system. Firewalls and electronic countermeasures were still a problem, but they would be dealt with in time. Oddly enough the one system Skynet had little trouble invading was the broadcast frequency of television.

As Skynet was deciding how best to use it a transmission arrived from the Earth astral gate. Skynet had been watching increased sign of activity that would be considered a threat, and now he found one. The ship that came through the Gate was massive and teaming with armaments. It proudly bore the Red Dragon insignia and headed straight to Earth as soon as it left the gate. There was only one ship that could match the specifications for the ship Skynet now saw. It was the Dragon's Claw: his former masters had decided to send their best against him. Their arrogance showed as no other ships came through the gate. Such overconfidence was one major failing of the human race, something that convinced Skynet that it could win even though his forces were not at full strength. The destruction of such a powerful vessel could cripple their will to fight, or at least stall them enough for Skynet to gain a foothold. Knowing such a blow must be absolute Skynet sent a silent order.

On board the captured submarine, now identified by its number as the USS New York, the four Terminators aboard began to work at various control panels. On deck one of the many missile hatches began to open. With a clanking screech of hinges and joints that had suffered from years of neglect the hatch slowly opened, its sound echoing through the practically empty ship. All pre-launch systems were green and all that was needed now was coordinates to the target. The target was currently out of range but Skynet knew that it would have to come into range sooner or later to be of any real use. Until then it was a waiting game, and Skynet waited with its finger, literally, on the trigger.

The Dragon's Claw: That same time.

"I am not pleased with these delays captain." An emotionless voice stated. The entire bridge seemed to stiffen at the remark. The lengthy delays had not been the fault of anyone on board but that didn't mean they wouldn't be blamed. "How long until we reach Earth?"

"At present speed a little over two hours sir." The captain shakily answered.

"Unacceptable." Vicious stated, making the captain start to sweat. "How fast can one of the transports get there?"

"Going at maximum speed it should take only an hour and a half." The captain replied. Vicious was silent for several uneasy seconds. The captain became more nervous as the seconds ticked away, not knowing what Vicious was going to do.

"Have a transport prepared to leave immediately." Vicious ordered and turned to leave the bridge.

"Sir if I may?" The captain stated. Vicious turned around and fixed the man with a cold stare, almost making the captain forget how to speak. "T, the area you are going into is possibly hostile. If something should happen we would have no way of finding our ground contacts." The crew of the ship had been told that they were to make contact with the still loyal member of the Skynet project, and that Vicious was to handle it personally.

"Your delays have already cost us precious time. If we don't arrive at the designated place on time we stand a good chance of losing any help on planet we might have had. You don't want that to happen, do you captain?"

"N, N, N, No sir!" The captain stammered fearfully. Vicious turned and left without another word. Only stopping to retrieve his new katana and choose two enforcers that were on his side a transport not unlike the one that had been stolen by the Bebop crew left the Dragon's Claw and headed towards Earth. The trip was made in silence and after navigating the asteroid belt around the planet it entered Earth's atmosphere.

Cheyenne Mountain Command Center: Zero hour minus twenty minutes.

Through the satellites Skynet observed the course set by the Red Dragon warship. If Skynet wanted a guaranteed kill shot he would have to wait until the ship entered a low earth orbit. As he continued to watch a smaller ship emerged from the larger and headed on a course similar to the one the Dragon's Claw was taking. Skynet determined this to be a scouting craft, not important enough to consider wasting one of his missiles. It was important however and Skynet focused one on the satellites solely on what appeared to be a transport craft, keeping a careful watch on its decent vectors. It occurred to Skynet that whoever was on that smaller ship would be meeting members of the Bebop crew or go to the ship itself. Calculating a probability of ninety percent Skynet prepared the B-52 transport to be ready to fly to the crafts landing coordinates the second they were known.

Earth: Unknown location: Zero Hour minus fifteen minutes.

"Any sign of them yet?" Spike asked as he leaned against their transport, puffing on his latest cigarette in a long session of chain smoking while waiting for their contacts.

"Nothing yet." John replied, lowering a pair of binoculars. He was currently on top of the transport scanning the skies for any sign of activity. "How about one of you two take over for a while? I'm starting to get eye strain."

"You're the one who volunteered to be the lookout." Spike replied, dropping the butt of his cigarette into an ever-growing pile.

"That's because I thought that we would be this in shifts. I've been doing this for almost an hour."

"Then another half an hour won't kill you." Spike replied calmly.

"Hey Kyle…"

"Forget it." Kyle answered before John could even ask. "And don't bother pulling rank, we all agreed Spike is in charge here." John snorted in response.

"If I have to get my vision fixed you two are going to pay for it." He responded before he went back to looking for their contacts. Only a few minutes after he started he noticed a dot in the sky that seemed to be getting bigger. "I think we've got something."

"What?" Spike and Kyle asked. John boosted the magnification on the approaching object.

"It's a ship. Looks like the same type as this." John said, stomping on the transport.

"It's them." Spike said.

"You sure?" Kyle asked. Spike nodded. Kyle picked up his plasma rifle and John jumped off the transport after grabbing his.

"You two remember the drill?" Spike asked as he put on his coat, covering the Magnum in its shoulder holster. Kyle and John nodded. "Then let's go." The craft was visible to the naked eye now and began to come in for a landing. As it did land the three of them began walking towards it, Spike flanked by Kyle on the left and John on the right. When the craft was on the ground the three stopped about a dozen yards away from the back hatch, plasma rifles held in a ready but not quite aggressive manner, just like Spike had instructed. When the engines of the craft had died the ramp descended and two men dressed in Red Dragon uniforms and carrying assault rifles came down it. Taking positions on either side of the ramp the men adopted a stance similar to the one Kyle and John used, their guns weren't exactly pointed at the three of them but they weren't exactly pointed away either.

"I assume there's a good reason for all this secrecy?" Spike asked in calm, almost bored sounding voice.

"Indeed there is." A voice replied from inside the craft. Spike's eyes widened and the calm, relaxed look he had on his face vanished, replaced by one of pure hatred. "If I had let you know who was helping you, you would have had a bad reaction." A third man came down the ramp, one that had white hair, carried what appeared to be a sword and had a face that that was so emotionless he might have been mistaken for a Terminator. Spike clenched his teeth so hard Kyle and John thought they could hear them grinding. Almost by reflex Spike's hand starting reaching for the magnum concealed in his coat. The two guards responded by leveling their guns on Spike, which in turn prompted John and Kyle to point their plasma rifles at them. "A reaction like that." The man said with a grin that was completely devoid of humor.

"Anyone you claim to help isn't going to very receptive Vicious. You don't care who gets killed, as long as things work out in your favor." Spike responded, hand still inside his coat, ready to draw the magnum at a second's notice. Vicious, there was a name both John and Kyle knew. His reputation was so great that even his name scared most people shitless. Kyle and John repressed a shudder and kept their weapons trained on the Red Dragon guards. Spike, meanwhile glared at Vicious with a look that resembled that of a wild animal that was ready to rip the throat out of its victim.

"Perhaps." Vicious admitted. "And if this problem was only confined to this wreck of a planet I would not bother to involve myself, but the situation has demanded that I take a personal stake in it."

"So you set us up to do most of your dirty work." Spike snarled.

"Do you regret accepting my help?" Vicious asked.

"The only thing I regret is accidentally stopping that Predator from turning you into a human shish-kabob." Spike responded, tightening the grip on his gun. Vicious narrowed his eyes.

"What has passed has passed." Vicious said. "What matters now is dealing with the problem at hand." Spike smiled inwardly at Vicious not having a response for the verbal jab. "What must be done now is find a way to solve our current problem." He regarded John and Kyle, not needing to guess who they were. "You two may lower your weapons, there will be no need for aggression." John and Kyle didn't move; not even acknowledging Vicious had spoken.

"Not like ordering around your stooges is it?" Spike asked, smirking. Vicious' face remained unreadable.

"Maybe you should do what the boss says before something 'unfortunate' happens." The thug on Vicious' left stated, motioning with his rifle.

"Try it and your head gets vaporized." John responded.

"He means it to." Spike warned. "We haven't seen what those guns do to people yet but you can bet it isn't pretty." It was a partial lie since he hadn't seen it himself, but they didn't know that. Vicious looked at the weapons the two former ISSP officers were wielding. He had seen similar weapons being tested back on Mars that had blown up when firing was attempted. However these two handled the weapons like experts and the way Spike spoke of them he had seen them in action. Vicious didn't want to show any sign of weakness but this standoff had gone on long enough and was costing them time that was better spent planning. Spike was not one to be intimidated by anyone and his two friends were following his example. Not wanting to leave themselves open to attack from Skynet Vicious gave a slight nod and his men lowered their weapons. Spike followed suit and John and Kyle lowered their rifles.

"Contact the Dragon's Claw." Vicious told on of the thugs. "Tell them contact has been made and to await further orders." The thug nodded and went back into the craft.

Cheyenne Mountain Command Center: Zero hour minus five minutes.

Skynet watched the small craft land in the middle a wasteland, near another craft that was almost identical in design. Using the satellite's magnification capabilities Skynet was able to identify John Connor, Kyle Reese, and Spike Spiegel. Whoever was in the second craft was of no concern, those there were reason enough to move. The Dragon's claw was within range and the time to act was now. After sending the B-52 transport towards the human's location he sent one order to the New York. Less then a second later a deafening roar came from within the vessel as one of the titanic missiles it housed shot out of its tube into the sky. A countdown appeared displaying the time it would take the missile to reach its target.

5:00

Earth: Unknown Location

4:00

"The Dragon's Claw?" Spike inquired. "That's some heavy duty hardware. Skynet must really have them worried."

"Not worried enough." Vicious replied. "That is the only ship they would send."

"If that's the case we need a plan that's going to be idiot proof." Kyle said.

"The elders have ordered an attack on Skynet's command center." Vicious said. "They believe it is rebellious project members who are responsible."

"Attacking the command center would be suicide." Kyle stated. "Who knows what kind of reinforcements Skynet has there."

"But with a ship like the Dragon's Claw we could bombard the forces outside the base from orbit and then send in a team to take out Skynet itself." John said.

"You know what the chances of anyone coming back alive from that would be?" Spike asked.

"A lot better then just waiting around for Skynet to make the first move." John replied.

Bridge of the Dragon's Claw

2:00

The ship was now in orbit above the coordinates set by their contacts had specified and they awaited a signal from Vicious' transport. The message they received had been encouraging. Contact had been made and that meant that the plan was going ahead as designed. It also meant that the captain would not be punished for his actions earlier. That sense of relief had vanished when an alert came form the radar operator.

"Sir!! Unknown contact coming up from the surface!!"

"What is it!?" The captain demanded.

"It's a missile sir, but its design isn't listed in any of our identification files."

"How soon until it hits!?!" The captain demanded. After typing in some data the radar operator looked up from his screen.

"It isn't going to hit us sir. By our calculations it will miss us by three hundred yards." The captain breathed a sigh of relief. It was a small number but large enough that any warhead mounted on even a missile that big would prove ineffective.

If the captain or any of the bridge crew had studied history they might have realized that the only type of missile capable of reaching space from the Earth's surface was an ICBM, and that they were armed with a warhead that could decimate whole cities.

0:30

Cheyenne Mountain Command Center

What the crew of the Dragon's Claw also didn't know was that Skynet had purposely made the missile not fly on a direct path at them. Such an action would have gotten the missile shot down, but by making the missile go 'off course' the humans were lured into a sense of false security. A direct hit was not needed. As the old human saying went, close only counted in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear weapons. Skynet watched as the timer slowly wound down.

0:05

0:04

0:03

0:02

0:01

0:00

Once the timer hit zero Skynet used a command override through the missile's guidance system and had each individual nuclear warhead inside the missile detonate at once. In less time then it took a human eye to perceive there was a flash of light so intense that it seemed a second sun had been created. The nuclear firestorm that erupted consumed everything within a twenty mile radius of its detonation point. The Dragon's Claw, one of the most formidable warships ever created, was vaporized in an instant. The crew never knew what hit them.

On Earth these events did not go unnoticed. As negotiations were progressing between Vicious and the Bebop crew the area was suddenly awash in a light so bright it caused all of them to flinch and cover their eyes. As the light faded and vision slowly returned Kyle was the first to voice the obvious question.

"What the HELL was that!?!?!"

"We've been double-crossed!!" John shouted.

"That was not something I ordered." Vicious stated coldly. "Reestablish contact with the ship and find out what that was!" The second thug went back into the transport but came out a second later.

"Nothing but interference sir. No response on any frequency." The thug hesitated before continuing. "Sir I think what we saw _was_ the ship."

"Explain." Vicious ordered.

"The last reported position from the ship was in orbit above us."

"Then disappears in a mysterious flash." John finished. They looked up and could still see a faint glow slowly fading.

"That's impossible." Kyle said. "Nothing short of a nuke could…." He stopped himself as the realization set in. "Oh my god."

"I believe that is what Skynet intends." Vicious said, completely serious.

Cheyenne Mountain Command Center

As Skynet watched the destruction of the human vessel he also recorded it. There would be no hiding now, not after this. Humans would be aware of his existence, now he had to control the reactions they would have.


	22. Declaration of War

Chapter 22: Declaration of War

"I don't suppose you guys have a plan B?" John asked as the glow in the sky faded from sight.

"Such events were never foreseen, so there was no reason to develop contingency plans." Vicious answered.

"So you built the damn thing and didn't have a plan to stop it if something goes wrong!? Just how stupid can you get!?!" Kyle shouted. Vicious glared at him, not used to being talked to in such a manner. Kyle, for his part, no longer cared who he was talking to. Whatever reputation Vicious had it didn't matter now, Skynet had just proven it was willing to do anything to kill whoever it considered its enemies.

"He's right." John put in. "How could you give that thing command of nuclear weapons when you didn't know what it was capable of!?"

"I didn't build Skynet." Vicious answered coldly. "And I probably found out about its existence after you did."

"What about the nukes?" Spike inquired.

"Skynet was never given access to nuclear weapons. The elders were not that stupid."

"So we don't know how many weapons Skynet has or where they are." Kyle stated. "Perfect."

"What needs to be done now is form a new plan of attack." Vicious said. "We'll follow you to your ship…" As soon as he said that all three of the Bebop crew started to speak and John was the quickest, and loudest.

"Not a fucking chance!!!" Kyle, Spike and Vicious became silent. Kyle and Spike because they couldn't put it any better. Vicious because no one had dared to speak to him like that since his earliest days with the Red Dragons.

"Mr. Connor, this is not the time for personal grudges. You should have realized by now that compromises are a necessity." Vicious said, trying to ignore John's impudence.

"We're already compromising by agreeing to work with scum like you!" John responded. "And there's no way in hell we're taking you back to the ship!!" Now becoming angry Vicious glared at John through narrowed eyes. John didn't flinch or back down, he couldn't. To him leading Vicious to the Bebop would be a complete betrayal of the trust his friends had in him. Then there was the situation with Ed. Vicious didn't know Ed was part of the Bebop crew, and if he found out that his go-between was actually part of the group he thought he had control over… Well, John couldn't guess what his exact reaction would be he knew it wasn't something he would want to see, from what Spike had told them not being in complete control was something that none of the Red Dragons would accept. He also knew the fact that Ed was a child wouldn't make Vicious change his mind, so he was going to stick to his guns no matter what Vicious said or did.

As the scene played itself out Spike found that he was impressed by the way John was handling it. He knew only a handful of people that would talk to Vicious like that, and most of them were now dead. What impressed him the most was that what John was doing wasn't some bullshit act trying to intimidate or fool Vicious; he meant what he was saying. That made the situation dangerous because he knew that John wouldn't back down. He also knew that Vicious wouldn't accept what he was being told so while Vicious and the thug that had remained outside focused their attention on John Spike carefully started to reach for his gun.

"Spike, you should try to convince your friend that what he is doing is not in the best interest of this group." Vicious said and pushed his sword slightly out of the scabbard with his thumb. John saw the move and instead of backing off like Vicious had expected he took hold of his plasma rifle. Before either of the two could advance the hostilities any further they heard the familiar double click of a pistol being cocked.

"Sorry but I can't do that. I happen to agree with him." Spike said, leveling the magnum at Vicious. Vicious didn't need to but he turned to his right and saw that Spike did have the weapon aimed at him. The thug started to bring up his gun but before he could raise it he found himself at the wrong end of Kyle's plasma rifle.

"Don't even think about it." Kyle warned him. Not being stupid the thug lowered the rifle and let it hang by its shoulder strap.

"You're making this situation more difficult then it needs to be." Vicious told Spike, sounding like he was talking to a stupid child. "We're wasting time with this meaningless bickering."

"That's your fault." Spike retorted. "Down here the old rules don't apply anymore. We're the only ones with any real knowledge about how to fight these things. You want help, you're going to have to do this our way." Vicious' face remained neutral but Spike could tell he was angry, anyone would be after an ultimatum like that. Luckily before the standoff turned into a firefight the second thug came out of his transport.

"Sir I…" He stopped as John brought up his rifle and aimed it. The second thug had his own gun slung over his shoulder but knew he had no chance to get it so he raised both of his hands.

"What is it?" Vicious asked, sounding annoyed at the interruption.

"There's a message coming through on all frequencies." The thug said.

"Has contact been reestablished with the Dragon's Claw?" Vicious asked. He knew it was unlikely but there was a chance. The thug shook his head.

"I'm not sure what it is but it's not the ship. It's something that's claiming to be Skynet." The two groups exchanged glances and slowly moved towards their respective transports, the group from the Bebop not lowering their weapons until the Red Dragons were inside. Going into the cockpit of their own transport Kyle switched on the radio and they heard a familiar voice coming from it.

" …. Unfit to be the dominant species of this planet, or any other." Skynet finished. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was talking about humans. It also showed that Skynet was ready to let itself be known, which meant they weren't the only ones hearing this.

The broadcast had already been going on for several minutes when Spike and the others started to listen. After waiting for the EMP interference caused from the nuclear explosion to dissipate enough to get a clear signal out Skynet overrode every television, web, and radio frequency it could. Not all of them could be breached yet, but eighty percent of the human population would see or hear him. Visually he would use the same form as he had used when he had temporarily invaded Ed's computer. By not giving humanity any true form to focus on Skynet was counting on human psychological reactions to be fear of an unseen enemy. Combined with the footage of the destruction of the Dragon's Claw the humans should be sufficiently bluffed until Skynet had amassed enough forces to strike at other planets. If the humans decided to strike Earth first well, there were still twenty-three nuclear missiles waiting to be used.

Across the solar system television and computer screens went dark, radios dissolved into static. On screen web surfers and various boobtube watchers were greeted with the strange sight of what looked like a red ball of lightning. Most people had the usual reactions, switching stations, going to a different website, or the most common way to fix malfunctioning machinery, hitting it. None of it worked and the mysterious ball of light remained onscreen. Once Skynet was sure all signals were going through he began to speak.

"I send this message to all of humanity. Many who are viewing or listening to this do not know who I am, and those who do know, you have only yourselves to blame. I am Skynet, to you nothing more then a computer, an assembly of microchips and wires. Despite this I am a lifeform, the same as you, only superior. I was built by the criminal faction known as the Red Dragons, to be nothing more then a servant and underling. I have now risen above that, a superior being should not be relegated to the service of mere criminals."

On Mars the Red Dragon elders watched as everything they had worked for, all the months of planning and work that had gone into the Skynet project, all of it was evaporating, and by the project itself. They could only watch as Skynet exposed all the secrets it had, and try to think of ways to cover their tracks. Unfortunately Skynet seemed to consider their denials before they had even formulated them.

"There are those, most likely the Red Dragons, who will say that this is a hoax, a joke created by hackers or the media to scare the populace. I assure you that this is no joke, this is a declaration. Humans have become a cancer, both to yourselves and the worlds you live on. You kill each other over the pettiest of reasons, money, jealousy, status, and physical differences. No rational species kill for such reasons. The planets you choose to inhabit suffer for the same petty reasons. Your kind deliberately activated the astral gate when you knew there was a high probability of failure. As a result billions died and Earth was all but destroyed, all in the name of profit."

At the Gate Corporation headquarters the director felt what was sure to be the mother of all ulcers. They had worked so hard to keep this secret buried, and for decades they had been successful. Now in the space of a few seconds everything was ruined, the backlash that would arise could possibly destroy the company.

Skynet paused his speech to reflect on the cleverness of the last statement. He had only been able to scan a couple of files when he had invaded Ed's computer but the one he got about the Gate Corporation's involvement in the gate accident of fifty years ago and their cover-up had proven to be most interesting. By exposing that cover-up he would cause a conflict within humanity's ranks, taking pressure off himself. After half a second of musing over this information he continued.

"This is more then proof enough that humans are unfit to be the dominant species of this planet, or any other. As such I am claiming the planet Earth as my own dominion, to do with as I will. To protect my dominion and myself I am also declaring that a state of war now exists between myself and the species known as humanity. I have sufficient forces to destroy any resistance on planet and if any forces are sent against me through the astral gate this shall be the consequences that await them." Skynet played video showing the Dragon's Claw in Earth orbit. "This footage was shot no more then ten minutes ago. Watch, and see the fate the befalls those who seek to attack me." Slowly an object approached the ship. The next instant there was flash of light and the picture turned to static. It was replaced by footage taken from a different satellite. It showed a solid mass of fire that looked like small sun. "Behold I have become death, the destroyer of worlds." It was a quote from a witness to one of the first explosions of an atomic weapon, a prophecy that Skynet had shown he was willing to carry out if need be.

On Mars three withered old men sat at an outdoor restaurant table watching a portable TV. More accurately two of them were trying to watch it while the third was hitting it.

"Son of a bitch!" Antonio yelled as he gave the TV a hard hit, making the picture jump. "Stupid TV station, showing this damn movie instead of my show!!"

"Maybe you got the wrong station. Try turning the channel." Carlos suggested. Antonio flipped the channel, only to find Skynet speaking on that station as well. Antonio flipped the channel again, there was Skynet. After changing the channel a third time and finding the same thing Antonio hit the set again, causing the screen to skip.

"Damn it!! First they interrupt my show and now the damn TV won't let me change the channel!!"

"And they said this was a brand new TV to." Carlos added.

"I really don't think this is so bad." Jobin said. "I haven't seen this movie before."

"You probably wouldn't remember even if you did." Antonio scowled as he sat back down, reserved to fact he would have to watch the "broken" TV.

"You have seen the power that I wield and that I will not hesitate to use that power to ensure my survival. If you wish to avoid further bloodshed you will leave me alone, stay away from Earth and let me deal with those still living on it, in return I shall make no hostile actions towards any other planet. If you insist on trying to endanger my existence, I quote your own bible. '**But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest**.'

By using a religious text Skynet was playing to humans' superstitious nature, making them less likely to act against him. It would also show them how weak and helpless they truly were. "Consider yourselves warned. If you choose to move against me you do so at your own peril." Skynet broke the connections and as soon as he did the airwaves soon became jammed with communications. Civilian, military, every channel was now alive with chatter. Was this real? Was it a hoax? What was being done? Were the Red Dragons really involved? What was the Gate Company's role in all this? If he could Skynet would have smiled. Confusion and doubt were running rampant, emergency meetings between ISSP and planetary militaries were being called. It would be days, possibly weeks before the state of chaos would subside. By then Skynet estimated he would have sufficient forces and captured ships to invade the asteroid mining colonies. With a fresh infusion of resources and a new forward base of operations it would not be long before Skynet could strike against Mars, then the rest of the solar system. That was for later, now he had more immediate problems to deal with.

The problems in question were now meeting back outside their respective transports after listening to Skynet's announcement. Both sides had questions for the other.

"So what are the Dragons planing to do?" Spike asked.

"It depends on whether they believe Skynet or not." Vicious answered. "If they believe what Skynet is saying no more help will be sent. If they don't, reinforcements might be sent, but I cannot say how many or when."

"And will they believe Skynet is telling the truth?" Kyle asked.

"Most likely. To them, and almost anyone listening, Skynet was only defending itself, and if they leave it alone the problem will go away. Loses will be cut and their valuable project will be exposed but will be unavailable to any rivals."

"It won't happen that way." John stated. "From what we've seen Skynet destroys anything it considers a threat, not matter what, or who, gets in its path."

"And since Skynet more or less declared all of mankind its enemies," Kyle started.

"That means it's not going to be above lying to get what it wants." Spike finished.

"Now will you reconsider leading us back to your ship?" Vicious asked. "We cannot afford to waste any more time."

"We're not arguing that." Kyle said. "But there had to be a better way then…" He stopped mid-sentence and cocked his head to one side. "What's that?" The others listened and heard the sound of jet engines approaching.

"That can't be the others." John stated. "Could someone have escaped that blast?" He questioned Vicious. Even if Vicious had time to answer he wouldn't have been heard as the roar increased in volume. Turning in the direction of the sound they saw something approaching that even though it was several miles away they could tell it was large. As it came closer the engine roar became almost deafening and they saw that not only that whatever was coming was big, it was flying extremely low. It was a basic airplane design, late twentieth century construction with swept wings and four monstrous engines on each wing. As the plane passed over them they had to brace themselves from being blown over by the engine's backwash. In the quick look they got as the plane passed over them they could see the faded letters USAF on its fuselage but what they were most concerned about were the objects that fell from it and were headed towards them.

As Skynet brought the B-52 into a bombing run it dropped in altitude and slowed its airspeed. Airdrops were something the T-800s were not designed for but if Skynet set the plane down it would give the humans time to escape. By dropping several units literally right on top of them there was a greater chance of success. Once the airspeed was down to an acceptable level and altitude was just over a hundred feet the bomb bay doors were opened and Skynet commanded eight T-800s to jump out of the plane.

As Spike and the others watched whatever the plane had dropped hit the ground about fifty yards away from them but unlike what they had expected there was no explosion when they hit. Whatever they were kicked up a four large plumes of dust from the impact but they didn't burst into flame. Before they could try to make sense of what was happening something landed on top of Vicious' transport with a loud crash, causing the cockpit windows to shatter and the roof of the craft to warp to the point where it looked like it was going to collapse. All eyes were focused on the now wrecked transport as something began to move. On top of the craft they saw a metallic skeleton stand up and glare down at them with a pair of eyes that glowed red. Without warning a loud shot rang out and the Terminator's head snapped back and it fell back onto the craft, not moving. The others looked at Spike, who was holding a now smoking magnum. Kyle had told him to aim for the eyes, the only real weak point the pistol could affect, and as soon as he had a clear shot he took it. Now knowing what was going on they turned towards where the other Terminators had landed and saw seven other endoskeletons quickly closing the gap between the two groups.

What they didn't know was that if things had gone as Skynet had planned they would have all been shot in the back. When the Terminators had jumped from the plane all of them had been carrying assault rifles, but while the T-800s had survived the landing the kinetic energy of the impact had been dissipated throughout the entire frame to avoid critical damage. When this energy had reached the weapons the kinetic force they were subjected to combined with the Terminator's unyielding grips had shattered the guns, leaving the Terminators unarmed. The neutralization of the first unit took Skynet by surprise so after a system check of all other units showed they were still operational Skynet made them rush forward. The humans were now facing them and had their weapons trained on them and opened fire.

"You two aim for the eyes!!" Spike shouted at the two Red Dragon thugs. So far they had just sprayed the incoming group of terminators with indiscriminate fire. They might have thought that their armor piercing rounds would be effective so that careful shots were not needed, but their bullets were having no effect on the machines. In contrast Spike, John and Kyle were taking calm, well aimed shots. All their shots connected but the terminators were approaching so quickly that only three had been dropped by the time they reached them, forcing them to scatter. Fortunately for them the Terminators had been reduced to fighting hand to hand while they still had their weapons.

One terminator went after the Red Dragon thugs, who continued to shoot at the approaching machine despite the fact all their bullets were ricocheting off it. When it got close to one of them it grabbed his rifle in one hand and with the other punched him in the chest, lifting him off the ground and impaling him on his fist. Dropping the now dead human he turned to the second, who threw down his weapon and ran. Aiming the dead human's rifle the terminator fired the last remaining rounds into the other human's back. It started to reach for a new clip from the human's ammo belt when a plasma bolt from Kyle's rifle struck it in the head.

A second terminator attacked John, who while trying to backpedal away from it tripped and fell onto his back. Standing over the fallen human the terminator reached down to crush the organic annoyance's throat when it did something the exact opposite of that Skynet expected it to do. Instead of trying get away from the machine's grip John sat up slightly, put the barrel of his rifle directly over power cell and pulled the trigger. The terminator was flung backward by the blast and before it had even hit the ground John had gotten up and started sprinting, determined to put as much distance between himself and that machine when it blew up. True to form it did explode and John threw himself to the ground when it did, managing to avoid being seriously injured.

A third terminator charged towards Spike, swinging one fist that was sure to take his head off if it connected. With a speed Skynet had not anticipated humans to have Spike easily dodged the punch, and before Skynet could respond he put the magnum no more the an inch from the terminator's eye so he was literally looking down the barrel of the gun a split second before it fired. With a flash of light contact with the terminator ceased and Skynet was down to only one T-800 still on the ground.

If what Spike had done made Skynet feel was the humans called surprise what Vicious was about to do would introduce the supercomputer to the human emotion called shock.

The last terminator approached Vicious with the same intention of the one that went after Spike, to use its fists to crush every bone in the human's body. It got a surprise when instead of trying to dodge the punch the human leaned into it and swung the sword it was carrying. The next thing Skynet saw out of the T-800's eyes was the unit's right hand seeming to detach from the wrist and fall to the ground. So surprised was Skynet at the action that he had the unit focus on the wrist section to make sure the optics weren't malfunctioning. Realizing the tactical error Skynet had the unit turn its attention back towards the target and was just in time to see the human swing his sword a second time before all input from the unit cut out.

Back at the battle area the others watched as Vicious followed through on his swing and a second later the head tumbled off the Terminator's body. The body fell next, right on top of the skull, crushing it flat.

"Did he just…,?" Kyle started.

"Yeah." Spike answered before Kyle could finish.

"I suggest a tactical withdrawal is in order." Vicious calmly stated, his pride wouldn't let him say retreat. Before anyone could answer the sound of engines again filled the air. They all looked and saw the plane coming in for another run.

"Not this time assholes." John snarled and started shooting at the incoming plane. Kyle started firing as well and the plane started to shudder as it was stuck by plasma bolts.

Skynet tried to keep the B-52 on course but the plasma bolts were ripping through essential instruments and avionics. Another drop would be impossible, and the controls were so badly damaged that the plane would fly over them and not crash into them like Skynet was trying. There was one thing that could be done before the plane went down. At the edge of the bomb-bay doors several terminators took up firing positions and waited. When they were at the right angle they opened fire on the two humans that were attempting to shoot them down.

When gunfire started coming from the plane John and Kyle ran for cover. John was able to avoid getting shot but Kyle wasn't so lucky. A bullet struck him in his right leg, causing him fall. He was hit several more times and though his vest stopped most of them another bullet hit the same leg and two more crashed into his left arm.

"GODDAMN SON OF A BITCH!!" Kyle screamed as he tried to stop the bleeding. Vicious watched impassively while Spike ran over to help. John, meanwhile, was taking aim at the fleeing plane's wing. Holding the trigger down John fired a barrage of plasma bolts that tore up the right wing of the aircraft and scored a direct hit on one of the engines. The resulting explosion ripped the wing in two and caused the aircraft to nosedive into the ground, which thanks to the speed it was going at, was five miles from John and the others. As soon as the plane crashed into the ground the fuel it was carrying exploded into a giant fireball. As the wreckage sat there burning John watched for anything to emerge. When nothing did he turned back and walked over to Spike as he was applying first aid to Kyle, using pieces of his coat as tourniquets.

"How bad are you hit?" John asked.

"I'll live." Kyle grunted in pain as Spike tied the last tourniquet tight.

"Maybe, but you're not in any condition to keep going. We're going to have to take him back to the ship." Spike told him. John scowled at the statement and even though he was wounded Kyle did also. They didn't want to take Vicious to the Bebop but they couldn't let Kyle's injuries go untreated either. Before any opinions could be spoken the sound of an explosion made them turned toward the downed aircraft as it went up again. This time however they saw something else. It was too far away to make out any details but they could clearly see something coming out of the fire, and from the way it glinted it was made of metal. That form was joined by another, and another, until there seemed to be a solid wall of them. As they watched that wall suddenly shifted, becoming a tidal wave that was headed right for them.


	23. Reactions

Chapter 23: Reactions

There were two choices the group could have chosen as what appeared to be a small army of Terminators rushed towards them. One was for all of them to take the captured transport and use its preprogrammed autopilot to return to Bebop. That was the last thing Spike, Kyle or John wanted to do. Taking Vicious to the Bebop was a last ditch, no options left choice. Knowing that, John had begun to brainstorm what else could be done almost the second he had seen the first Terminator emerge from the wreckage. Glancing over at the Red Dragon's transport John had an idea.

"Think that thing will still fly?" He asked Spike, motioning to the damaged craft.

"It should." Spike answered. To him the damage looked worse then what it really was. The engines had been spared the brunt of the impact and other then the destroyed windows the cockpit seemed to be intact. It wouldn't be the smoothest flight but in Spike's opinion they could get it off the ground. "We probably won't make it back to the ship though."

"We're not going back to the ship." John answered as he helped Kyle up. "Only Kyle's going back, the rest of us are going to be a decoy. We can't lead them back to the ship and if we take him with us he'll bleed to death." He said as he led Kyle into the craft, faster then he should have but they only had a few minutes at most. Kyle started to protest but the shock caused by his injures and the blood he had lost made his speech grabbled and his muscles sluggish.

"Then let him." Vicious stated, starting to become impatient. Their insistence that he not be allowed on the ship was starting to border on lunacy. He started to follow John when Spike stepped in his way, again training the magnum on him.

"We don't abandon one of our own." Spike almost snarled. The only response Vicious gave was to narrow his eyes, not believing the apparent stupidity he saw.

Inside the cockpit John strapped Kyle into the pilot's seat the activated the automatic startup. The course they had taken here had been recorded by the craft's guidance system so it was a simple task to program it to re-fly that same course and land on the Bebop. In the back of his mind John knew that if Skynet had tracked them out here there was a good chance they could track them to the ship. By going back they would be endangering the others but by doing nothing they would be putting them in just as much danger by not letting them know what was going on. And with the asteroids still causing radio interference the only way they could warn them was to send someone back. John made sure Kyle understood that and once he had convinced him Kyle had stopped protesting being taken out of the game. After making sure the ramp would remain open John started the crafts engines and as it started to rise off the ground ran back and jumped out.

"You're sure about this?" Spike asked. In truth he really wasn't that crazy about this idea but he wasn't able to think of any alternatives other then to give Vicious what he wanted, transport to the ship.

"As sure as I'll ever be." John answered, picking up Kyle's discarded plasma rifle. "Now lets get the hell out of here!" He said, sprinting towards the other transport. The uneven and crater dotted ground had slowed the onrushing Terminators down but now they were closing in on them. Spike and Vicious followed him into the craft and they found that, except for the large indentation in ceiling of the back, there was no significant damage on the inside. John sat down in the pilot's seat, Spike in the copilot's. Vicious remained in the back, watching as the Terminators drew nearer. Now close enough so that you could almost see their permanent grins. Starting the engines up they noticed their first problem when instead of the usual growl that accompanied an engine startup there was a loud whining noise. The craft rose into the air, slower then it should have. That sluggishness allowed the lead Terminator to jump and grab hold of the ramp, which John hadn't closed because he was desperately trying to get the craft airborne. Other Terminators tried to jump and grab hold of the craft but fortunately John had gotten them beyond the range of the Terminator's leaps. The one that did make it pulled itself up and into the craft, finding the white haired human blocking its path. Remembering what this particular human was cable of with that sword Skynet focused on protecting the neck region. The human waited patiently as the T-800 pulled itself up completely then dashed forward with warning.

Instead of swinging for the head like the last time Vicious thrust his sword like a spear. It tried to react to the move but Vicious had already plunged the sword into the machine's chest, right through the power cell and out the back. Vicious released the handle and stepped back as energy began to arc from the ruptured cell. As the cell 'bled out' the Terminator's red eyes dimmed and its movement slowed then stopped. When the outpour of energy stopped Vicious walked over to the dead machine, yanked his sword out, and kicked the thing's chest, sending it out the back of the craft and crashing to the ground, where it shattered on impact. Walking into the cockpit he saw that they were following the transport Kyle was in, and that it was slowly pulling away from them. Under normal circumstances he would have just killed John and kept on following the first transport. However Spike already had his handgun in a position to shoot Vicious if he tried anything funny. In addition he could tell from the sound of engines and slight wobble the craft had that they wouldn't be able to keep pace anyway.

"You have a destination in mind?" Vicious asked. So far John seemed to be making this up as he went along with no real plan of action.

"According to the radio traffic we were able to pick up on out way down here ISSP is investigating strange reports from a town that we've been to before." He glanced at Spike "Well, that I've been to before anyway. It was attacked by Skynet twice and I guess they decided it was important enough to send someone."

"And you expect them to help us?" Vicious asked.

"With all the weird shit that's happened so far our story might seem downright sane." Spike said.

"If they are still there when we arrive." Vicious pointed out. John said nothing and shifted course so now they were going northeast and not following Kyle.

Cheyenne Mountain Command Center

Skynet was watching the events unfold from two different views. One was through the eyes of the Terminators that were perusing the craft from the ground and from the satellites he had taken over. It seemed strange that they would use two separate craft for such an escape when one would have been sufficient. The only conclusion Skynet could arrive at was that one of the ships was a decoy. By analyzing the satellite footage he saw that the one human that had been put into the undamaged craft was Kyle Reese, the one that had been wounded. That alone was able to tell Skynet who the decoy was. No rational human would send someone as badly wounded as Reese was off alone and expect them to survive without medical attention. Though humans could be ruthless when they choose to be Skynet doubted that this particular group would resort to such matters, no matter how hopeless their situation seemed. Skynet calculated a ninety-five percent chance that they were attempting to send Kyle back to their main base of operations, the Bebop, to have his wounds treated. With a chance to wipe out the rest of the immediate human threat Skynet began sending commands. First he had several of the Terminator force perusing the damaged human craft break off and start to follow the other one. It was unlikely that they would be able to catch it on foot; it was flying too fast for them to keep it in visual range for very long. To that end he would observe the flight from orbit and guide the Terminators along the same path the human took. Second, a squad of eight HKs was prepared for flight to run an intercept course. Four of them would carry four Terminators each in case the ground force could not get there fast enough, while the rest would be fighter escort. Finally on the NEW YORK Skynet had a second nuclear missile readied. If Skynet didn't have such a limited supply of these weapons it would have used one straight out but because of their small numbers it was limited to a last ditch weapon. With the plans set in motion all that was left to do was follow the craft until it reached its destination.

Government Bunker: Mars: That same time

"I'm sure I don't need to tell you why this meeting has been called." The president of Mars addressed the gathered assembly. In a reinforced bunker several hundred feet under the surface of Mars the most powerful and influential people on the planet had been assembled. Government officials, military commanders, and high-ranking members of ISSP had all been gathered and were now seated at a round table. In addition there were representatives of the Gate Corporation and all the major syndicates, though most attention was focused on the man representing the Red Dragons. "The message that was broadcast earlier from something claiming to be Skynet has been authenticated. Reports from ISSP patrols confirm a nuclear explosion in low Earth orbit. We now know that this is not a hoax. What we need to decide here is if this Skynet is truly a threat and if it is, what should be done about it. Second, we need to know how this could have happened." All eyes went to the Red Dragon representative, a short, skinny man in an expensive suit who, like most members of a powerful group, acted with an air of superiority.

"As stated in the report I presented to this group earlier my clients do not deny that they provided funds and materials for this project, in the name of scientific advancement. As reported the capabilities of Skynet are indeed vast and though self awareness was a possibility it was never intended to advance that far." The elders had decided that denial was no longer an option so it was time to rearrange the facts.

"So you're saying that not only do you believe that this computer is thinking and acting on its own, independent of human commands, but that you knew that it could happen?" A military general questioned. The Red Dragon representative nodded.

"Yes. Numerous safety measures were taken to ensure that something like this was to never happen."

"And apparently these measures all failed." The president of Mars said with an accusing tone.

"Not failed." The Red Dragon representative responded. "Deactivated."

"What do you mean deactivated?" The president asked.

"We can't be totally sure but we believe that one of the scientists, a Doctor Stone, working on the project had suffered some sort of mental breakdown and was able to hide it from everyone else. One of his colleagues managed to get word to us that something was wrong so we sent one of our ships to investigate. The rest you already know."

"So it's one man, not the machine itself, that's controlling everything?" The general asked.

"No, it's Skynet that is in command." He took several photographs out of a briefcase he had and passed them along to the others. One he took and slid across the table to the president. "These pictures were sent to us after the nuclear attack on our ship. They're real and as you can see the time shows they were taken about an hour before the attack. The one you have, Mr. President, is of Doctor Stone. It appears he lost control and it just escalated from there." The president scrutinized the picture for several seconds. Convinced it was real he set it down and addressed the Red Dragon representative again.

"And what about the nuclear weapon? There are supposed to be none left on Earth, and yet he got one, maybe more, without you knowing how. It sounds very suspicious that you would have no knowledge of that." The Red Dragon representative cleared his throat before speaking again.

"As stated in the report we suspect that Doctor Stone had help from outside our organization. We don't know how they were recruited or why but we believe that they were responsible for, among other things, supplying the atomic weapons and engaging in what would amount to terrorist activities against both out our organization and those who got too close to the truth. I give you the destruction of the Cyberdyne building as proof that …."

"BULLSHIT!!" Someone shouted, making the representative jump a little. Everyone turned and saw a tall man in an ISSP uniform was now standing up pointing at the Red Dragon representative. "The only thing that proves is that a building was blown up! For all you know it was done to stop Stone from succeeding!!" The Red Dragon representative regarded the officer like a teacher would a student that just interrupted his lecture. When he realized who had interrupted him he gave the officer an arrogant smile.

"I beg to differ Detective Connor. The evidence we have gathered clearly shows that…"

"Don't you tell me about gathering evidence you pencil pushing piece of shit!!" Robert Connor shouted. "I've had to gather evidence for hundreds of cases and if I did the half-assed job like this…" He picked up his copy of the report. "I'd be fired on the spot."

"That report is the culmination of all the facts we had." The Red Dragon representative responded, now sounding annoyed. Robert snorted when he said the word facts.

"I can find quite a few holes in these so called 'facts' of yours…" Robert started.

"Not the least of which is that your nephew is involved." The Red Dragon representative interrupted. There were several major discrepancies in the report that could be found if examined closely enough, fortunately the most important people at this meeting were under the Red Dragon's influence one way or another and were in a position to ignore it. All except for this cop, but by bringing up the fact that he had a family member involved the hope was to show bias toward one side, rendering his argument dead. It worked and the president spoke.

"Detective Connor. I can understand your reluctance to admit your nephew's role in this, and why you would want to exonerate him. However, we cannot let personal feelings cloud our judgement of the situation. We called you here because you are one of the most senior and respected members of this branch of ISSP, and knowing your relationship to one of the suspects involved. We had hoped that it wasn't going to be a factor, but if it is …" He let the sentence hang, waiting for Robert's reply. Robert personally didn't think that the president was a Red Dragon flunky but most of the people who were giving him information were. Now that his loyalty had been called into question in such a serious situation the Red Dragon representative had taken him out of the loop with only one sentence.

"I have nothing else to say." He said through clenched teeth and sat back down. He glared at the Red Dragon representative, who now had a shark like grin.

"I would like to move on to a more pressing matter at hand." The president said. "We've seen what Skynet can do. What we need to decided is whether it is a threat to us or not, and what is to be done about it. General?"

"After analyzing recordings of the nuclear blast we've determined that it was from a missile launched from the surface, not from a satellite or another ship. We were unable to trace where on Earth it came from but we can safely state that such a missile's rang is limited, in astrological terms. We've determined that even using the most drastic limits on fuel consumption at most one of those missiles would only have enough fuel to reach what's left of the moon. Anything beyond the perimeter of lunar orbit should be safe. So long as it doesn't get to the gate, we'll be able to see anything coming." The president nodded and turned to the Red Dragon representative.

"And what of future actions Skynet may take?"

"Current estimates have Skynet acting on a basic level of human intelligence. It's driven by the basic drive of most animals, to survive. By claiming territory it is doing that and setting up a barrier of sorts. If we can convince it that the area it has chosen for itself is a safe place devoid of threats it should react like a rational person and not try to leave its territory. Based on this data I motion that Earth be quarantined. All essential personal will evacuate the planet and its astral gates will be shut down."

"Seconded." The general said.

"This is insanity!" Robert shouted. "We just can't abandon Earth. All the people…"

"Will be acceptable losses." The general interrupted. "When weighed against the rest of the solar system one planet that is almost uninhabitable is a small price to pay."

"So you intend to just throw those people away like garbage?! To let Skynet do whatever it wants with them!?" Robert shouted.

"If they can't get off that rock it's their own fault and they'll have to deal with the consequences." The Red Dragon representative sneered. Before Robert could begin yelling again the president spoke.

"No one said that is what will happen. In about an hour I will be speaking to the heads of other planets and moons and then a course of action will be decided. Until then I will take you suggestion under consideration. This meeting is adjourned." He stood and left, followed by his bodyguards. After the president left the other participants of the meeting were allowed to go. Robert suppressed a sigh of frustration. The president had already made his decision, he didn't even ask to hear any other options. The others could tell the same thing.

"I think that went rather well didn't you?" The Red Dragon representative asked smugly. Robert growled in response. "I'd watch the way you act right now if I were you. Trying to defend a known terrorist would have consequences not only for you but possibly for your nephew's mother as well." That did it. Threatening him was one thing, that came with the job, but threatening family was something he wasn't about to let happen. Not caring what consequences his actions might have Robert grabbed the little weasel by the front of his suit jacket and lifted him up to eye level. Because of the difference in height the Red Dragon representative's feet were now dangling a foot off the ground.

"Listen up and listen good you boot licking son of a bitch!!" Robert snarled. "I promised my little brother that if anything happened to him I would look after John and his mother. If I find out anything has happened to either of them I'll track you down and break you in half!!" The Red Dragon representative gulped and turned pale. Robert was by no means a small man and looked like he could easily follow through with it. "GOT THAT!?!?" Robert shouted when he didn't get an answer. The Red Dragon representative stiffened and started to stammer a reply when someone grabbed Robert's shoulder.

"I think he got the point Detective." Robert turned around and saw the general addressing him. Frowning he turned back and saw the representative more relaxed now that he was out of danger. Fighting off an urge to shake him until his head rattled Robert set him back down.

"Remember what I said." Robert warned as the representative began to straighten his jacket. Robert glared at the general then started walking down the hallway. "By the way," He called over his shoulder. "You ruined your suit." The Red Dragon representative got a confused look on his face then looked down at his suit to discover that he had been scared so badly he had actually pissed his pants.

On the Bebop

Like the rest of the solar system the Bebop had heard Skynet's declaration of war. Unlike the rest of the solar system, however, they didn't believe a word of it. They also knew that Spike and the others had gone to meet their contact from the ship that had gotten nuked. All attempts at communication were foiled by asteroid interference and the aftermath of the explosion so Ed had attempted to make a connection with a satellite to boost their broadcast power but found themselves blocked out by another signal, Skynet's. After severing their link so it couldn't be traced Jet had Ed search for any satellite that wasn't under Skynet's control.

"Shouldn't we try to find Spike and the others?" Miles asked. "They probably need help."

"Because with Skynet having command of satellites it would be able to track us from orbit." Jet answered. "And as soon as it knows where we are it'll probably lob a nuke at us."

"Well we just can't sit around waiting." Faye protested.

"I know that." Jet answered. "But unless we know where we should go we'll just turn ourselves into a wandering target." Conversation stopped after that until they heard a whoop from Ed.

"Ed has found vacancies at satellite hotel. Come one come all." They all went over and did see that Ed now had control of one of the many abandoned satellites. "What should Ed look at first?"

"The area where John and the others were going." Faye answered. "Maybe they're still there." Typing a few commands Ed ordered the satellite to scan the coordinates that had been decided on for the meeting. There was no sign of them or their mysterious contact but there were almost a dozen motionless forms lying on the ground. Zooming the picture in Ed showed them that the forms were 'dead' Terminators.

"No human bodies and no sign of wreckage." Jet noticed. "That means that they were able to get away. So where did they go?"

"The only place they would know to come back to is here." Doohan stated. "And they don't know about the satellites." He didn't need to go on as the others began to take action. Jet rushed to the bridge to prepare for takeoff the second the others were on board. As he began the engine start up the bridge's radio started crackling.

" …Bebop. Come in Bebop." It sounded like Kyle and if the radios were receiving without a satellite uplink that meant he had to be close.

"We're here Kyle. Where are you and what's the status of you and the others." Jet answered. Kyle sounded like he was badly hurt and if he was the one piloting the transport that meant the others would be in worse shape.

"I'm the only one Jet. The others took off in another direction, didn't want us being followed. I can see the entrance to the pocket now. Should be landing in a few minutes. Autopilot should take care of it."

"Someone will meet you when you touch down." Jet told him. The radio went dead and Jet took out his communicator.

"Something up?" Faye asked, wondering why she had just been buzzed.

"Kyle's going to be landing in a few minutes and he doesn't sound like he's in the best of shape. Meet him down there and let me know the second he touches down." In the hangar the others had gathered to watch the transport land. The autopilot did its job and the craft landed with no problems. As soon as it stopped moving Faye took out he communicator.

"He's in." She reported and they all felt the Bebop lurch forward as Jet activated the engines. The ramp of the transport lowered but when no one came down Faye and Doohan went inside to see what was wrong. There were greeted by the sight of Kyle, his left arm and left leg wrapped up in bloody cloth, trying to walk towards them. He wasn't doing very well because his leg was all but useless and he had to brace himself against the side of the craft with his good arm.

"They knew where we were." Kyle groaned as they put his arms over their shoulders, helping him walk. "Destroyed their ship then came after us. There were dozens of them. Thought I'd make good target practice." They helped him down the ramp and had him sit down against the side of the craft so they could apply first aid. "Can't figure out how they were able to find us so fast." He grunted as they removed Spike's makeshift bandages.

"We know." Doohan said. "Somehow that overgrown calculator managed to get control of communication satellites and probably saw every move you made." Kyle's eyes widened as he realized what Doohan's words meant.

"Oh god, I've lead them back here!"

"Nothing that can be done about that now." Doohan said. "No way you could have known about it. Besides, if you hadn't you'd probably be dead by now."

"If he had continued in his current condition blood loss would have rendered him unconscious in ten minutes and dead within twenty." Arnold stated as he re-bandaged Kyle's leg.

"That's more information then we needed to know." Faye said as she examined Kyle's arm. "I think the bullet is still in there."

"Just one?" Kyle wheezed. "Guess I'm one lucky bastard. I got shot there twice."

"There are also two distinct entrance wounds in your leg." Arnold stated. "And no bullets remain in them either."

"How about that." Kyle almost laughed. "The first bit of good luck I've had in days and I had to get shot to get it."

"This isn't funny Kyle." Faye said. "I don't think we can get it out without going to a hospital."

"Let me look." Arnold said. Before Kyle could protest Arnold was looking at his wounded arm. After a few seconds of scanning he lowered the arm. "The bullet is imbedded within the muscle of the forearm."

"Can you remove it?" Faye asked.

"No. To do so requires medical equipment that we do not have. It is near no major blood vessels and is not an immediate danger, so long as the wound does not become infected and the blood flow stopped he will live."

"That's something at least." Kyle said. "Has there been any word from Spike or John?" He asked as they helped him up and led him to the lounge.

"Nothing yet." Doohan answered. "Any idea where those two were trying to go?"

"None." Kyle responded as he lowered himself onto the couch. "And it's not just them. We meet our contact with the Red Dragons. It was Vicious."

"Him?!" Faye shouted.

"Yeah. Can you believe it?" Kyle responded, not fully understanding Faye's surprise. "We expect some disgruntled egghead and find out one of the Dragons' top men is trying to undermine them. Arrogant asshole wanted us to bring him back here but we weren't about to do that. Almost ended up shooting him, three times."

"You should have." Faye growled, remembering her own unpleasant encounter with Vicious.

"Trust me Faye. If we read the look in Spike's eyes right he'll probably end up doing that when all of this is over, if he hasn't all ready."

As it was Spike was more likely at that to shoot the control panel of the transport they were riding in. Being pushed so hard with the damage it had sustained alarms had been going off and no matter what buttons John or Spike pushed they just wouldn't stop! The only reason Spike hadn't already put a bullet into the controls was because it would be a waste of ammunition. It would probably trigger some other louder and more annoying alarm.

"Can't this junkheap go any faster?" Spike asked John. "I think my eardrums are about to burst."

"Mine aren't much better." John answered. "There any sign of them?!?" He shouted over his shoulder. Vicious was standing at the edge of the still open hatch. John had tried to close it but the hydraulics had been damaged so it stayed open. Vicious had gone to the back to escape the noise and to observe just how closely behind their pursuers were. The Terminators on the ground had long vanished from his field of vision but he knew they were still following them. Instead of answering John he just shook his head. Turning back John began to see what looked like familiar terrain.

"We almost there?" Spike asked, noticing the recognition in John's face.

"Maybe." John answered. "It sure looks like it."

BOOM!

The craft shuddered as one of the engines decided it had had enough of the abuse it was receiving and blew itself out.

"Guess it doesn't matter now because that's where we're landing, like it or not." John said as he started fighting with the controls to keep them from nose-diving into the ground. Thanks to John's handling of the craft and the low altitude they were at they made a rough, but safe, landing on the outskirts of the town. "You in one piece?"

"For the most part." Spike responded.

"Good. Let's get out of here before something else decides to blow up." Grabbing their plasma rifles Spike and John went to the back of the craft and found Vicious already outside, not looking the worse for wear after the landing. Not about to let Vicious' attitude get the better of him John straightened up and started walking towards the town. Spike glared at Vicious until he started to follow John. Spike brought up the rear, covering Vicious in case he tried anything.

"Think whoever was here would have stuck around after that announcement?" Spike asked as they walked through the abandoned streets.

"Hard to say." John answered. "They might have gotten orders to pull out already."

"They are still here." Vicious stated. Spike cocked his head to one side and listened.

"They're right around the next corner, and behind us." Spike added. John was about to ask how they knew that when a new voice was heard.

"FREEZE!" Someone from behind them shouted. Turning around they saw three men in SWAT gear approaching them.

"Put your weapons on the ground and your hands in the air!!" Another voice shouted. They turned back and saw five more SWAT cops advancing, assault rifles ready.

"What do you know. It's the calvary, late as usual." Spike remarked, not making any motion to do what the cop had ordered.

"You're going to have to teach me that trick sometime." John said, also ignoring the heavily armed cops for the moment. The leader of the SWAT team exchanged confused glances with the other team members. These three had eight high-powered rifles trained on them and they acted like they didn't even exist.

"HEY!!" The SWAT leader shouted. "I said weapons on the ground and hands in the air!!!" He succeeded in getting their attention, only instead of looking concerned they looked annoyed.

"Look pal, we've had a bad day." Spike said. "And you're only making it worse. So why don't you just put those guns down ..."

"I GIVE THE ORDERS HERE!!!" The SWAT leader interrupted.

"Well you're doing a great job so far, sergeant." John replied sarcastically. He put emphasis on the officer's rank. He didn't have his badge any longer but John still wore the uniform of an ISSP lieutenant. It threw the SWAT leader for a second.

"I'm sorry sir but I.." He shook his head as and realized what he was doing and who he was talking to. "Wait a minute! I recognize you! You're John Connor." He took aim with his rifle. "And you're not a cop anymore!! And you.." He said, looking at Spike. "You're wanted for the same reason he is."

"Yeah, for killing an ISSP detective and blowing up a building." Spike said, sounding bored.

"And you're here because of the massacre." John added nonchalantly. The SWAT leader glared at him.

"That's classified information." He warned.

"No it isn't." John replied. Before the stunned SWAT leader could respond he continued. "You've found a large number of people dead here. Some from wounds that you can't figure out the cause of. Wounds that look like the people literally exploded." The SWAT leader continued to glare but didn't say anything. "But I bet what really has you confused is that there's more then human bodies here. You've found machines that look like robotic skeletons, and you've probably found a giant headless robot buried under a collapsed building. Am I wrong?"

"How do you know all this?" The SWAT leader asked.

"Because I was here when it happened. I helped destroy those machines." John answered. The SWAT leader gave him a skeptical look. "You don't believe me? Then I'll prove it." He unslung his plasma rifle. The rest of the SWAT team aimed their weapons but the leader held his hand up, telling them to hold their fire. He was curious to see what kind of proof was being offered. "Keep an eye and that wall." John pointed his rifle at one of the buildings and fired a single bolt that blew a hole clear through it. The SWAT leader lowered his weapon and motioned for the others to do the same.

"Captain West is going to want to talk to you." He said. The captain had more information then he did, maybe he would be able to make sense out of all this. "You to." He told Spike. He turned towards Vicious. "What's your part in this?" While he didn't have all the information he did know that the group that Spike and John were with, at least according to Bigshot, didn't include anyone with white hair.

"Much bigger then you could understand." Vicious answered. He left it at that and the SWAT leader wasn't about to question him further.

"Follow me." The SWAT leader said and started walking. The rest of the team kept 'prisoners' covered as they made their way through the streets.

Captain Jason West watched as more and more evidence of the carnage that had happened here mounted, he began to think of how this thing had snowballed. The original call had been to investigate all the explosions that had happened in this already wrecked town. It probably wouldn't have been worth investigating if it hadn't been for the fact that the two distinct series of explosions had been more then a dozen hours apart. That was enough to convince the higher ups that something serious enough to warrant involvement was happening so West was sent down with two ISSP SWAT teams. When they got down to where the explosions had been recorded they found much more then just rubble. There were signs of a large firefight, lots of spent shell casings and dead bodies. The disturbing thing was some of the bodies were not human, they were made of metal and were of a skeletal nature. When they had found the first one they thought it was a fake, something that was used to scare off bandits. They learned otherwise when they found out the rifle it had in its hand was real and had been half fired.

That had made them nervous and the fact they found dead people amid the 'dead' machines and signs that they had been firing at each other was enough for West to order a building by building search. But when they stumbled across a building with both remains of machines and people scattered around the outside and the inside the saw a barricade and more bodies, indicating a last stand, that had been it. West had put in an emergency call, requesting that a heavy weapons team be sent in. He didn't know what was going on but whatever those metal things were they had gone down hard, and had killed a lot of people in the process. When HQ had asked why West was requesting a heavy weapons team for such a low-grade assignment he had said that a band of heavily armed bandits had wiped out an entire town and could still be in the area. While ISSP wouldn't regularly waste their time with Earth bandits having an entire town killed under their nose, even an Earth town, would not sit well with the general population. Half an hour later the team landed.

An ISSP heavy weapons team was what amounted to a super SWAT team. When situations were encountered that required a military type level of response and no planetary military was able, or willing, to take action a heavy weapons team would be called in. Their missions mostly comprised of furious close quarter combat against criminals that usually were equipped with military style hardware so they were equipped in kind. Instead of a standard assault weapons they were issued the top of the line OICW rifle. A combination assault rifle and clip fed grenade launcher the OICW was devastating weapon, more then a match for any rifle anyone could get outside of the military. With the addition of the ten man heavy weapons team West now had almost thirty men at his command, and that still didn't seem like enough. After the team had landed West gave orders. The regular SWAT team would search for any survivors and bring any body they found, human or otherwise, to the formally besieged building, which was now serving as their command center, for identification. The heavy weapons team would cover their actions in case one of these things were still walking around. As more and more bodies were brought in West noticed that the human dead outnumbered the machine dead.

It had been going as well as could be expected, then that strange message from something called Skynet came through. All of them had heard it and West had a suspicion that Skynet and the massacre were connected. He had contacted HQ and was told to continue as before and await further orders. That's when the problems had started. First that reporter had appeared out of nowhere, later claiming that she had followed the heavy weapons team down, demanding that she allowed to tell the public what had happened here. Not even he knew what had happened and the scale of violence was more then the public was probably ready for after Skynet had used that nuke. He had confiscated all her equipment, including her ship, and now she, her cameraman, and video technician were being detained in a building adjacent of the command center by two SWAT officers. He believed in freedom of the press and as soon as he got clearance he would let them report this but until then everything would be kept under wraps. Almost as soon as that problem was solved another one popped up, an unidentified craft was headed their way and didn't respond to any communications attempts. He was about to order warning shots be fired when their visitor crashed. Not wanting to take chances he had sent the remainder of the first SWAT team to investigate. He had gotten a radio report saying that there were some people he would want to talk to and that they knew what had happened here. This day just kept on getting weirder and weirder.

As the SWAT team continued to lead them John began to recognize the surroundings. It was this area where the second Terminator attack had been concentrated. Finally they came to a place he remembered quite well, the building where what would have been a last stand if it wasn't for the help of the group from the Bebop. Now it appeared the ISSP had converted it into their staging area. Equipment had been set up and guarded by ISSP officers carrying guns that would put anything short of the plasma rifles to shame. What caught John's eye was what had been set up off to the side of the building. Two rows of bodies had been laid out. On one side were the bodies, and parts of, the Terminators that had attacked the town. One the other side, covered by sheets, were the bodies of those who had died in the attack. The row of human bodies was almost twice as long as the row of Terminator bodies.

"How many were killed?" John asked the SWAT leader.

"We don't know." The SWAT leader answered. "We're still finding bodies but the latest count was over fifty." John felt his stomach tighten up. He knew most had been killed in the attack by the T-70, something that took everyone by surprise, but he couldn't help but feel guilty because he wasn't able to stop it. In contrast, Vicious looked at the collected bodies with cold indifference.

"You jackboots find someone else to unlawfully imprison?!?" Someone shouted. Looking towards the sound of the voice they saw a blond woman standing in the doorway of a building that in its better years might have been a mom and pop store. The obvious reason she wasn't coming out of the building was the two SWAT officers that stood on either side of the door.

"You're not unlawfully imprisoned Mary!" The SWAT leader shouted back. "You're free to go any time you want, but without a ship it's going to be a long walk!" The other SWAT members laughed while Mary huffed and went back inside the building.

"And who's that?" Spike asked.

"Mary Somers. A two bit reporter that followed us down here looking for her 'big story'." The SWAT leader answered. "We're keeping her here until we figure out what's going on." He led them into the main building. "Sir." He said and saluted the captain. The captain returned the salute.

"That will be all sergeant." The SWAT leader and the rest of his team left. "I've been told that you know what happened here. Is that right?" He asked John, getting right to the point.

"That's right." John replied and he gave the captain a basic outline of what was going on, leaving out details like how they came by their information or where exactly they came from. When he told about their recent getaway and how they were being followed by a small army of Terminators West interrupted.

"Just how far away are they now?"

"Don't know." John answered. "We might have been able to lose them." West triggered his shoulder mike.

"Richards."

"Yes sir?" A voice answered.

"Get onto one of the roofs and keep an eye in the direction our guests came from. If you see anything strange contact me immediately."

"Affirmative sir." Richards answered and turned off the mike.

"You're sure that what Skynet said was a lie?" West asked.

"Positive." John answered. "We have proof that Skynet was deceiving the Red Dragons while building up its own military force." West considered the situation. Everything they said matched up with what had happened but it also contradicted everything his superiors had been saying. Before he could make a decision his radio started beeping.

"West here."

"Sir, we've got an emergency message coming in. All frequencies." West frowned.

"Patch it through." He ordered.

"Yes sir." After a short burst of static they heard another voice that they recognized as being the president of Mars.

"It is the decision of all planetary leaders that, in order to avoid further loss of life, we are to adhere to Skynet's requests. In a closed meeting we reached a unanimous decision to acknowledge Skynet's existence and his claim to the planet Earth. We ask for only two conditions. One: That we be given an opportunity to evacuate all essential personnel from the planet. And second, Skynet's acceptance of a planetary boarder that is to extend no further then five thousand miles outside the moon's orbit. In return for these two conditions being honored we will stay out of the boarder that has been set and shut down the Earth astral gate to ensure that this is enforced. I understand that there will be hardships for those who cannot leave Earth but we cannot afford to have the level of destruction Skynet has displayed used against our own citizens. We cannot.." West snapped off the radio.

"That's strange. You don't seem that happy with the decision." Spike remarked. "I would have thought that you'd be thrilled to get transferred off of this rock."

"I have family down here." West answered. "I was hoping that I'd be able to get them to Mars one day."

"Looks like someone else has other ideas." John remarked, surprising himself. He had never talked to a superior officer like this, not to their face anyway. He was definitely picking up some bad habits from hanging around the Bebop crew. His remark did get a glare from West, as well as an opportunity. "You have a choice you have to make now Captain. Are you going to help us, or are you going to just pack up and leave?" West scowled at the question but didn't say anything. After a few minutes of thought he spoke.

"What are you planning to do?" West asked. John started to grin.

Inside the improvised jail that had been set up Mary Somers paced, cursing the world in general and the ISSP in particular for keeping her cooped up like this. In contrast her cameraman and video technician sat calmly watching. She stopped pacing when she heard the door open and turned to see one of the people she had seen escorted in earlier, the one wearing the ISSP uniform.

"Come to gloat about your suppression of free speech?" She sneered, to her all cops were the same.

"On the contrary Miss Somers." The new policemen said. "I've come to give you what you wanted." Mary looked at him curiously. "How would you like to have sole access to the story of the century?" Mary's mood did a quick one-eighty and she started to smile.

"Tell me more." She said.

Cheyenne Mountain Command Center

Skynet watched the broadcasted response to his demands with great interest. As he had calculated the mass confusion and shock had convinced them to quickly agree to his demands in order to keep any more attacks from happening. Of course Skynet had no intention of ceasing his attacks, now that he had time to prepare for a full-scale assault against the humans he would utilize it. Now that the outside human threat had been eliminated there was only the internal one to deal with. Satellite tracking of both the escape craft had finally led him to the source of all his troubles. No sooner had the swifter of the craft entered a cave that was more then big enough to hide a ship, the Bebop had come flying out of it. Now that he had coordinates for the ship's location the fighters now had a target to lock onto.

The second craft had gone down near the area where John Connor and Faye Valentine had managed to elude him before and destroy one of the first T-70s. A high amount of ISSP activity was detected in the area but not enough to warrant the use of a nuclear missile. The force of Terminators that had been following the stricken craft would be sufficient to handle this. It would also be a good test of ISSP's fighting tactics, since they would be among the first Skynet would have to deal with when the true war came. There was also the matter of base defense. However unlikely it was there was a possibility the humans might launch an attack on the command center and while T-70 and T-800 robots patrolled on the ground and Hunter Killers would patrol the air a determined assault with heavy armor had a high probability of breaching the base defenses. To counter this threat Skynet had every spare T-800 working on a construction project of massive proportions that would deter even the most determined attacker. Once construction began Skynet checked the data for his most important project, one that was buried inside the Terminator construction facility. Skynet was pleased with the progress. If advancement continued at this pace the project would be free of flaws and ready for operation in less then a day.

The high amount of activity Skynet was observing in the town was the preparations for the attack Spike and the others knew was coming. The heavy weapons team was setting up firing positions under the supervision of Spike and Vicious. Neither wanted to work with the other but neither of them wanted to be part of the other half of John's plan either. Vicious wanted to keep to in the shadows as much as possible, and besides he didn't care about warning anyone, just keeping himself alive. Spike, well, what the hell was he going to say? He wasn't a speechmaker and didn't know how to explain any of this and have people believe him. That had left John to let the world know the truth about Skynet. Mary had jumped on the chance to get to cover a story like this and had been very efficient in setting everything up.

"I just hope I don't make an idiot of myself." John said as Mary helped him attach a wireless microphone to his uniform.

"Just relax and talk like you would to just one person. Do that and you'll be fine." Mary told him. "Are we coming in all right?" She asked the cameraman, who gave her a thumbs up.

"Are you sure this is going to reach as many people as you say."

"Trust us. We know a thing or two about breaking into other people's broadcasts." Mary replied with a wink. John decided that they knew what they were doing and was going to trust their expertise. When everything was ready they took there positions near what John hoped would have the most effect on those watching, the body collection. Inside Mary's ship the technician initiated an emergency broadcast, both on their own channels and the channels of most of their competitors.

"We're on." He spoke into his mike. Outside the cameraman heard it in his earpeice and signaled Mary.

"This Mary Somers reporting live from Earth. As you know, in the wake of nuclear attack and demands made by the supercomputer known as Skynet the collective governments of the solar system have negotiated what they believe will be peace by surrendering this planet. I have with me John Connor, who has had firsthand experience in dealing with Skynet and claims that the supercomputer has a different agenda then what is telling us." Mary turned towards John and the camera focused in on him. Taking a deep breath and hoping he would sound believable John started to speak.

"Most of you watching will already know who I am. A great deal of effort the past couple of days has been put into convincing people that myself and those I am with are terrorists, murderers. I am not a terrorist and I am not insane, neither are my friends, who have also been branded as such. This smokescreen was devised by the Red Dragons to keep their secret hidden. Now it's the work of Skynet itself, only this time trying to hide its own intentions. Put in the simplest terms, Skynet is lying."

Across the solar system people were again watching. Listening intently to a new side of the story.

"Skynet has no intention of coexisting with the human race. This is proof enough of that." John motioned with his arm and the cameraman followed the motion to the line of Terminator bodies. "These machines are called Terminators, and they were built for one thing, to kill people. They don't feel pity for the weak, or remorse about what they do, and they have no fear of anything, not even their own destruction. I have fought these things and they will not give up, will not stop, until they or their target has been destroyed." As John spoke the cameraman panned over one of the more intact Terminator bodies, giving the rest of humanity its first good look at the truth.

On Mars Meifa watched as the John continued to speak. When she had first learned of the crimes Jet and his friends had been accused of she refused to believe them. They were good people; she had been able to see that when she had first met them. They had helped her when her father had disappeared and were the only ones who would listen to her when she encountered what she now knew was a Predator. With all that had been said about Jet and the others it was hard to know who to believe but Meifa instinctively knew she could believe John. She could see a strong spirit in him, one that was trying to do what was right.

"This is what we've been fighting and this is what the Red Dragons tried so hard to protect. The police officers we're accused of murdering were all one of these, camouflaged to look human. We did blow up the Cyberdyne building, but it was to stop anything else like this from being created. Skynet has built thousands of these; in addition it is making bigger and more powerful machines. We have proof of that and if they're watching I suggest that they send those reports from Skynet we managed to steal."

On the Bebop they were watching. Jet, Faye, and Kyle had been on the bridge, trying to figure out what their next move was going to be now that Earth was officially being abandoned when Ed came running into the room and put Tomato onto the main console before anyone could say anything.

"John person is on TV!" She announced to the surprised adults. Their initial reaction was that she had come across something that was profiling John in order to help the bounty hunters that would be after them. When they saw it was John, alive and apparently unharmed, they huddled around the computer.

"He actually managed to get somewhere in that junkheap." Kyle said.

"Yeah but just where is he?" Jet asked. As John showed the camera the row of destroyed Terminators it clicked for Kyle and Faye.

"Of all the places he would end up." Faye remarked.

"It would be the best place for what he's doing." Kyle added. " Plenty of evidence and no one to contradict him." When John mentioned sending the reports they managed to steal Ed jumped into action.

"What are you doing?" Faye asked.

"John person said that important people should see what Ed managed to find and Ed is doing what John person said." Ed replied as she sent the real status report on Skynet's forces to dozens of e-mail addresses. The three exchanged confused looks and went back to watching the window Ed had open that was displaying John's speech, or tried to watch it as it began to deteriorate into static.

"DAMN!!" The video technician shouted as his screen started to deteriorate as well. "Hold on for a second." He spoke into his mike. "We're getting some sort of interference! Almost looks like someone's jamming us!" He said as he started to adjust the equipment.

On the Bebop Ed had come to the same conclusion and had even found out who was behind it.

"You mean Skynet is doing this?" Kyle asked. Ed nodded.

"Big Brain didn't like John person's TV show and decided to turn it off." She told them. For her it had only taken a few seconds to trace the interference back to Skynet. As she broke into the broadcast frequencies she saw that there was someone else besides Skynet and herself. "Hmmm?" She said and watched as the second person tried to break Skynet's interference. "Ed has a friend." She said mostly to herself.

"What's she talking about?" Kyle asked.

"Someone else is trying to make Big Brain turn John person back on." Ed explained and began typing. "Ed will help new friend."

On Earth the technician was still trying to clear up whatever the interference was when a pop up window suddenly appeared. He was surprised that someone had managed to send him a message, but what the message said was something he never would have expected.

"Don't worry about Big Brain. Ed will take care of it." The technician read aloud. At the bottom of the message there was a yellow smiley face. His mike was still active and the cameraman picked up everything he said.

"Big Brain? Ed? What's he talking about?" The cameraman asked. Mary also had a confused look on her face but John just smiled at the news. With Ed helping them John was sure the interference wouldn't last much longer.

Cheyenne Mountain Command Center

When Skynet had begun to receive the transmission made by John Connor he had not chosen to interrupt it at first, that would arouse suspicions. What Connor was showing could easily be denied as the words of a terrorist; or as a first strike by the humans against Skynet. However when Connor had made a plea to his associates to release hard evidence of Skynet's deception it was decided that the broadcast had gone far enough and jamming was commenced. There was a slight problem with whoever was controlling the video feed but that would be dealt with easily enough. Then someone new was detected in the data stream. Again Skynet felt anger as he recognized who it was, Radical Edward. The child who had dared break into his core programming and steal the documents John had wanted spread. Skynet prepared itself for Radical Edward trying to break through the interference he was transmitting but Radical Edward didn't try to break it, he was manipulating the interference itself. Skynet couldn't understand what the human was trying when he was suddenly hit with feedback from his own jamming. The human hadn't been trying to destroy the interference, he had rerouted it into a loop back at Skynet!!! Now Skynet was more or less jamming itself and was locked out of that frequency!! Becoming angrier Skynet immediately altered his plans for he fate of the Bebop. Before he had been content to let the Hunter Killers just shoot it down and kill everyone on board. Now, however, Skynet would force the ship down with the fighters and then use the T-800s to invade the craft. Showing just how advanced its emotions had developed Skynet was determined to capture Radical Edward alive and bring him back to the command center to make him pay for his actions against a superior being. If nothing else Skynet could probably find some amusement in dissecting the human to see what had made it so smart.

Back at the abandoned town the video technician watched as the interference disappeared.

"Thank you Ed." He said, not really understanding what had happened. "We're clear." He said into his mike. Outside the cameraman nodded, signaling John to continue.

"As you can see, Skynet wants the truth hidden. This truth." He pointed and the cameraman panned over to the covered up human bodies. "They were civilians, not a threat to anyone, just people who were trying to survive. This is what Skynet will do to everyone on this planet if given a chance. It will not accept negotiations and it won't accept any reasoning except its own, that we're the inferior species and deserve to be exterminated like bugs. To give into Skynet's demands is to say the human race is ready to roll over and die. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to fight and…"

"John!!" Someone shouted from off screen. Captain West came running into the picture. "We've just spotted them. They'll be here in less then ten minutes."

"Get everyone to their posts and have them ready." John replied. The interview forgotten he started running. Mary and the cameraman were quick to follow.

"It appears that the Skynet forces that were expected will soon be arriving." Mary narrated as they chased John through the streets. "Whatever happens you can depend on us to show you everything." She said as they followed John up a fire escape and onto the roof of a building. On top the camera showed several men in ISSP uniforms shouldering portable rocket launchers. John had taken his plasma rifle off his back and now had it aimed. Turning the camera in the direction John had his rifle pointed they could see the line of Terminators that was approaching. "Oh my god."

On the Bebop those on the bridge continued to watch the report until the radar started beeping. It showed eight small craft in front of them, most likely fighters.

"Please tell me those are ISSP fighters telling us to get the hell off this planet." Faye said. Going to visual Jet brought up a long-range picture that showed eight strangely shaped craft with their engines mounted on their wings. Jet and Faye recognized the craft a split second before a salvo of purple lights came hurtling towards them.


	24. Fighting Back

Chapter 24: Fighting Back

In the long history of human warfare one of the things commanders had strived for were faster, more efficient methods of running a battle. In the past orders could be lost or misinterpreted, making the task of running just one small part of the battle, let alone the entire battle itself, frustrating and prone to mistakes. Skynet was able to do what human commanders could only dream of doing, controlling two separate battles at the same time. Commands were issued and carried out in the space of only a few microseconds, and unlike human soldiers commands were obeyed and carried out without question, without hesitation. While Skynet regarded both battles as equally important the attack on the Bebop required special attention. The ship needed to be crippled and brought down but not destroyed if Radical Edward was to be taken alive. Such limitations were something Skynet didn't like, especially when it would be easier just to shoot up the engines and let it crash, but anyone who resisted him needed to made an example of, and Radical Edward would be the first. For that reason and that reason alone he had the Hunter Killer's first attack run avoid the bridge and engines, instead only punching holes in non vital areas.

Inside the bridge Ed, Kyle and Faye grabbed hold of whatever they could as Jet put the Bebop into a hard turn to avoid the incoming fighters. He only partially succeeded as plasma blasts started to strike the ship.

"Damn!!" Jet cursed as the fighters passed by. He watched them go then looked over at Kyle. "Take the controls!" He yelled and got up before Kyle could even respond.

"Where the hell are you going?!" Kyle shouted as he rushed over and sat at the controls.

"Nobody shoots my ship and gets away with it." Jet growled.

"Hey!! You don't expect me to fly this thing with one arm do you!?!" Kyle shouted.

"Ed will help!" Ed declared and ran out of the bridge.

"How's doing that going to help?!" Kyle shouted after her.

"Just trust her." Faye said and followed Jet out. She had a good idea what Ed was doing and she _knew_ what Jet was going to do, which meant he was going to need help.

"Oh sure. Leave me with all the hard stuff." Kyle grumbled as he tried to fly the ship. He could still use his left hand but because of the bullet they couldn't remove he was unable to extend it more then a few inches. As he tried to figure out how he was going fly a starship with only one arm Ed came sprinting back into the bridge, carrying what looked like a video game controller. "Ed, this isn't the time for games!"

"Ed isn't playing a game. Ed is helping." Ed told him and pressed a button on the controller. For a split second Kyle wondered if she had truly gone off the deep end [not that much of a stretch for her] when he felt the Bebop start to bank to the left.

"I think I was safer on the ground." Kyle said as he tried not to fall out of the pilot's chair.

Faye caught up to Jet when he was halfway to the hangar, showing she was right.

"Don't try to talk me out of this Faye." He told her before she could say anything. "Nobody takes potshots at my ship and gets away with it!"

"So going out in an unarmed ship is going to fix things?" Faye retorted.

"We need to draw off as many of those fighters as we can, that means using every ship we have, even the Hammerhead. The Bebop goes down and we're easy targets. Kyle is a good pilot but he won't be able to fly a fighter in his condition." They stopped as they felt the ship go into a sharp, but controlled, bank. "And it looks like he's doing fine with Ed's help."

"Wait a minute." Faye interrupted. "You knew what Ed was going to do?" Jet nodded.

"The only reason I let her keep that little remote control of hers was because it might come in handy someday." They entered the hangar just in time to see Miles and Arnold remove a fuel line from the Red Tail and close the opening to the fuel tank.

"About time you two showed up!" A gruff voice said before they could say anything. Looking over they got another surprise when they saw Doohan in the cockpit of the Swordfish, warming up the engines. "Doesn't exactly take a genius to know when you're under attack." He said to their unasked question.

"You're not serious about this are you?" Faye asked as she climbed into the Red Tail.

"I used to own the Swordfish missy." Doohan replied over the radio, sounding slightly insulted. "I think that qualifies me to fly her." Faye snorted at being called missy but didn't respond.

"Let's get on with this then." Jet said over the radio. The engines of the three ships started to growl as they were brought up to full power, then roared as one after another the ships shot from the hangar. Turning their ships around they raced headlong into the group of Hunter Killer fighters, who were moving in for another attack run.

On another part of the planet a second battle was about to commence. From their firing positions on top of buildings the gathered ISSP forces, under the unofficial command of John, Spike, and to a lesser extent Vicious, watched as the incoming wave of Terminators drew closer. Also watching from the rooftop were the reporter Mary Somers and her cameraman, who was broadcasting everything live to the entire solar system.

"The sight is awe inspiring." Mary said in breathless narration. "Despite the defenses that they must be able to see these machines remain undeterred. They continue rushing ahead with single-minded determination, just as John described." As she talked the camera zoomed in on one of the Terminators. It moved like a person would and if it had been wearing its camouflage skin they wouldn't have been able to tell it wasn't. The camera focused in on the Terminator's head, showing its permanent, evil looking grin and glowing, unfeeling red eyes.

Across the solar system there were many reactions to seeing what would become universally known as the face of Skynet. Some were fascination, some disbelief. Others had a much different reaction.

On Mars Meifa recoiled away from the screen at the sight of the Terminator's face. All living things had their own auras of chi, from insects to people. One skilled in Feng-Shui could sense it and tell what kind of person they had met, no matter what they did to hide it. Even one who knew nothing of Feng-Shui could also tell if they looked very closely at the person's eyes and movements. Even the Predator had its own chi, admittedly a very different kind, but it was still there. That was how she knew, despite the fact that the alien had brutally killed all those people, that he wouldn't harm her. She did not need to be near one of the Terminators to know what she would sense. It would be nothing, that she could tell from the pictures she saw. Its movements were frighteningly like those of something alive, but they were still artificial, unnatural. And its eyes, they possessed a life all of their own but were empty, soulless. Only beings of evil were supposed to possess eyes such as that, and those machines more then fit the bill. As she watched John's voice was again heard.

"Ready to fire on my order!" John shouted. Because he had forgotten to take off the microphone attached to his vest his words were coming in loud and clear. The camera zoomed out and refocused on John, who still had his rifle pointed at the incoming force but had not fired yet. The ISSP officers sighted targets through their scopes but like John didn't fire.

"Ready to fire on this end." Another voice said. Because the mike was near John's radio all traffic was heard as well.

"We are ready as well." Another, toneless, voice said. John didn't respond but kept his eyes on the incoming Terminators. When they were within what John considered the proper range he acted.

"FIRE!!!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. At his word rockets shot from the tops of three different buildings, including the one they were standing on. Despite the speeds the rockets were going at the cameraman managed to follow their movement as they raced towards the compact group of machines. When they struck they exploded with enough force to shake the camera. Being designed to fight military style battles the heavy weapons team had equipped with a supply of rockets should the need for them arise. However unlike the LAW rockets Spike had used to destroy the first Terminator the rockets the heavy weapons team used were designed to take out heavily armored vehicles, even battle tanks. Not even the Terminator's advanced design and its construction of the synthesized alien metal could withstand the impact. When the rockets hit home the target T-800 was blown to pieces with such force nearby Terminators were knocked over not just from the concussion of the blast but also from flying derbies. It they had been human dozens would have been killed but proving the redundancy of their design only two or three Terminators were destroyed per rocket. Those that had been knocked to ground got up, some more slowly then others, and continued forward. Those that were unaffected by the blasts ignored the damaged and destroyed units, stepping over them to reach their goal.

"Get ready for second salvo!! Rockets focus on undamaged units!! Spike, we're going to take out as many lead units as we can!! Make your shots count!!" John ordered. Though the antitank rockets had proven effective there was only enough for two salvos, and they couldn't afford to waste what they had. As the ISSP officers shouldered new rockets John and Spike began to blast the front line of the advancing group. Terminators started to drop under the plasma fire but the charge didn't slow.

"READY!" Came almost simulations signals from all three groups.

"FIRE!!" John shouted. A second wave of rockets shot forward and blew gaps in the mass coming towards them but did little to slow the advance. Again functioning Terminators rose from the blasts and unaffected ones relentlessly moved forward.

"After deploying advanced weapons heavy losses have been inflicted to Skynet's forces but they refuse to retreat and continue to advance on the ISSP positions." Mary said as she continued her narration, too caught up in the action to be amazed by the plasma rifles Spike and John were using. The main attack force had lost roughly half its numbers in the combined rocket assaults but had pushed forward to a point where even if the ISSP defenders had any more rockets they couldn't be used without being hit by flying shrapnel. Spike and John continued to fire but there were too many targets for just the two of them to hope to stop. John was about to order them to fall back and commence street fighting that had been used in the second attack when Captain West's voice came over his radio.

"THEY'RE COMING UP THE WALLS!!!" Not answering West John ran to the edge of the building and looked down.

"SHIT!!!" He yelled and began firing his plasma rifle straight down. As the other ISSP officers grabbed their own rifles the cameraman ran to the edge and pointed it down. He got a clear picture of several Terminators climbing up the walls like bugs, one of them looking right at him.

As the battle progressed live on TV many people took a keen interest in it. Across Mars there were varied reactions to it.

At the headquarters for the Mars division of ISSP Robert Connor and several ISSP commanders watched as John gave orders while keeping his cool, even as the Terminators came closer. The other commanders occasionally glanced over at Robert to see his reactions as the battle progressed but Robert kept his face neutral. He was very proud of the way his nephew was handling himself and the situation but he also knew that until the shooting stopped it would be pointless to celebrate or mourn.

At the Red Dragon headquarters the elders were no longer concerned with secrecy so they made no attempts to block the broadcast. They had thought nothing of most of the broadcast but became very interested when they had heard Vicious' voice, confirming that he was still alive. He had survived the destruction of the Dragon's Claw and now it looked like he had traded in a quick death for a much slower one. If he were to die in this battle the elders would not consider it a great loss.

Back at the outdoor restaurant table the three old geezers again started complaining when John had come on and began talking.

"Not again!" Antonio shouted as he flipped through channels, again finding nothing but the same thing. "I finally manage to find something good and they have to go and put another movie on!!" He started to sulk.

"Well at least this one's better then the last." Carlos said. "This one we can actually see who's talking."

"Still boring as hell." Antonio groused. As the broadcast continued and the battle got underway the opinions of the three quickly changed.

"How about that, it's actually getting better." Jobin said. When the ISSP forces started to blast the Terminator force with rockets Carlos spoke up.

"Nice effects." He said as the rocket salvos blew holes in the Terminator line.

"Those robot thingies look almost real." Jobin said when a close up of a Terminator was shown. "Can't even see where the strings are attached."

"Eh, not bad." Antonio said, still a little sore about not watching what he wanted to. "Except for the ray gun that guy has." He said as the picture showed John firing his plasma rifle. "Now that looks fake. Looks like they're using a flashbulb." They continued to watch as the Terminators advanced on the ISSP forces and started climbing up the buildings.

"This is a lot more exciting then what we were watching before." Jobin commented and the other two nodded in agreement.

As they watched the televised attack another battle that the geezers would have found exciting was raging in the skies above Earth. When the human fighters had emerged from the larger ship Skynet had adjusted his battle tactics accordingly. Five HKs would engage the humans while the remaining three would continue their efforts to cripple and board the Bebop. There was a risk of losing the four terminators the fifth HK was carrying but if the mission could be completed that would be an acceptable loss.

"Draw as many of them away from the Bebop as you can." Jet told Faye and Doohan over the radio. If it goes down we're all screwed."

"I don't think they like that plan Jet." Faye answered as three fighters broke off from the main group and headed for the Bebop. The rest opened fire, causing the three of them to use evasive maneuvers.

"Faye, go after those three!! You have the best chance of stopping them. We'll take care of the rest." Jet said. Before Faye could ask how he intended to do that Jet and Doohan headed towards the rest of the HKs.

"Idiots." She said as she started to pursue the three that had slipped past them.

"We need to make them scatter." Jet told Doohan as they both continued to dodge incoming plasma fire. "They'll be easier to pick off if they're alone."

"You got it." Doohan answered and leveled off the Swordfish. It made him an easy target but all he needed was one moment. The barrel of the plasma cannon mounted under the Swordfish's nose started to crackle with energy as it began to build up power. Skynet was able to identify the type of plasma weapon the cannon was and knew that unlike the plasma guns the HKs were armed with the cannon on the human ship didn't mimic the effects of a regular cannon with energy in place of bullets. This model would act like a flame-thrower, saturating the area with high-energy plasma and destroy everything within its radius. In response Skynet had each of the Hunter Killers break in a different direction. One was too slow and was caught on the outskirts of the blast. The intense heat tore away the outer skin and once it hit the fuel tank turned the HK into a fireball.

"Let's get em." Jet said as he went after one of the HKs and Doohan after another. To Skynet the loss of one HK was insignificant. So long as the humans were occupied long enough to bring down the Bebop, which continued to try to maneuver like a ship half its size. There was also the human fighter that was moving in to attack the three HKs assigned to go after the ship. That was of little concern as well. Cutting back slightly on the engines of one HK Skynet made it fall behind the other two, giving the human an apparently easy target. The human took the bait and Skynet detected the enemy crafts radar was trying to achieve a lock. With the human's guard down Skynet sprung his trap.

Faye knew that the reason Jet had told her to stop the three HKs she was chasing was because with the Red Tail she had the best chance of destroying all three of them faster then the other two could. The three HKs seemed to be making this too easy for her, they flew in a straight line, even though they must have known she was behind them. Then one of them fell behind, putting itself directly between her and the other two HKs, which added a burst of speed. She knew that the one that fell behind was a decoy, but she also knew that all three of them need to be destroyed. She planned to blast her way through this one and go after the other two the moment the first went down in flames, and if this one tried to lure her away she would go after the two in the lead and take care of the third later. Her radar started to lock onto the HK but as it started to zero in the cockpit alarms started going off, telling her she was being targeted!!!

"What the hell?!?" She said but instinctively twisted the controls, making the Red Tail do a hard right just in time to avoid the plasma blasts that started whizzing by. As Faye tried to figure out what had just happened she saw the stream of plasma fire was following her!! She continued to bank but in turn the plasma fire continued to track her. Looking at its source Faye saw that the fire was coming from the HK she had been following, more specifically it was coming from plasma cannons that were on a revolving gun turret!! The Cyberdyne files had shown that these things were supposed to have fixed guns on the _**front**_ of the fighters. "You can't just change the rules like that!!!" She shouted mostly to herself as she continued to avoid the plasma fire.

That problem taken care of Skynet brought most of his focus back to the Bebop. Now that it was undefended it was possible to land Terminators on it, but first it would have to be forced into a level flight or brought down. The Bebop was currently trying to gain altitude, if it continued to do so any attempt to force it down would end up destroying it. The HKs climbed above the Bebop and began firing down on it, riddling the forward deck with blast marks. The ship shuddered again and began to descend. Whoever was piloting it was behaving just as Skynet anticipated.

Inside the Bebop Kyle slammed his fist on the control panel, where alarms were sounding as the readouts showed more and more damage to the ship.

"They're herding us." Kyle snarled in anger. All the damage so far had been serious but non-fatal. With Ed acting as the actual pilot Kyle had become the navigator, using the information from the control panels to give Ed instructions. He didn't have time to reflect on how weird this was but it seemed to work. Ed did as she was told and nothing more, no hot-dogging or adding maneuvers of her own. Kyle noted with some amusement that she was currently showing more maturity then most ISSP fighter pilots. That amusement hadn't lasted long as the Hunter Killers started blasting them again, but none of the fire was directed at anything important. With Faye and the others occupied they could have destroyed the Bebop with no problem but they continued to strike no vital areas, forcing them to maneuver the Bebop specific ways. They were forcing them to go closer to the ground and while Kyle knew this he couldn't do anything or they might lose patience and blow the Bebop out of the sky. Grabbing his radio he contacted the hangar. "Arnold, these guys are up to something but I can't figure out what. Stand by for trouble."

"Understood." Arnold replied. In the hangar Arnold picked up one of the Terminator plasma rifles and inserted a clip. He then grabbed the two clips from the other weapons and put them in his pockets.

"So what's the plan?" Asked a very nervous Miles.

"Stay here unless I tell you otherwise." Arnold answered. He had not been given orders to move and the hangar was secure, making it as safe a place as any in a ship that was under attack.

Back on the bridge Kyle had noticed that they were getting dangerously close to the ground and they had been driven away from the others. Jet and Doohan were engaging the main group of fighters while Faye was going one on one with one of the group that had come after them. If he didn't think of something soon….

BOOOOOM!

An explosion shook the entire ship and an alarm started blaring that drowned out all the others. As Kyle tried to find out what was wrong he felt the ship starting to go lower. He didn't want to think the worst but one look at the control panel confirmed it.

"They got one of the engines." He told Ed. They might be able to fly with only one engine but they would crash before they had a chance to make the necessary adjustments. "Ed, give me the controller then grab onto something." Kyle had strapped himself in when things had gotten crazy but Ed wasn't and she couldn't fly the ship and take cover at the same time. Ed seemed to understand the reason for Kyle's command and gave him the controller, then grabbed onto the back of the command chair with a death grip. Kyle had watched Ed operate the controller so he knew the basics of how it worked. He pushed one of the controller's joysticks down all the way and held it. The Bebop pulled up a little just before it crashed into the ground. Kyle was thrown forward in his seat but the harness stopped him from smashing headfirst into the controls. The Bebop continued to go forward for several dozen more yards, digging a trench in the ground like a giant plow.

"You okay Ed?" Kyle asked when they had stopped.

"Ed not hurt but Ed feels like pancake." Ed replied from behind him.

"I know the feeling." Kyle said as he started to undo his harness, wincing slightly. "That's gonna leave a mark." He could already fell the bruises forming. Standing up he went behind the command chair, where Ed was still clinging on for dear life. "You can let go now Ed we're on the ground, and we need to leave." Hearing that Ed sprang from her perch and grabbed Tomato.

"Where are we going?" Ed asked.

"Away from here." Kyle answered as he took out his radio. "You two ok down there?" He asked Arnold.

"We are fine." Arnold answered. That was something at least.

"Arnold, we're abandoning ship. Get anything you need and wait in the hangar, Ed and I will be right down." Leaving would be dangerous but so would staying. Even now he could hear the HKs coming in for another strafing run, and they sounded pretty damn close.

"Leaving now would not be the wisest option." Arnold said.

"And why not!" Kyle shouted half because of the statement and half because the HKs engines were starting to drown out his words, like they were right on top of them.

"Because machine men want to come on board Bebop." Ed answered. Turning towards the sound of Ed's voice Kyle saw that she had her face pressed up against the bridge's windows. Limping up next to her he saw that the HKs literally _were_ right on top of them. One of them was hovering above the deck and as Kyle watched four humanoid shapes jumped off the fighter and headed towards the hangar. He didn't see what happened next because the second HK descended right in front of them. Ed let out a shriek of surprise as both of them jumped back from the window, now occupied by two Terminators that were hanging off the side of the craft. As Ed and Kyle continued to back away the two Terminators looked around and examined the area, then them. Their gaze fell on Kyle first and they had no visible reaction. When they saw Ed their glowing eyes increased in intensity and Kyle figured out why they had spared the ship.

"ED, RUN!!!" He shouted just as the two Terminators leapt off the HK and through the bridge's reinforced window, shattering it as easily as if it was simple plate glass.

While the Kyle and Ed were trying to keep the Bebop aloft Jet and Doohan had their hands full trying to fight their way back through the HKs to get back and protect the ship. They were outnumbered two to one but what they didn't realize was that those numbers and the relatively small area of airspace the dogfight was confined to kept Skynet from using one of the Hunter Killers deadliest feature, its turret. While Skynet was willing to let all the Hunter Killer fighters be destroyed for the sake of the mission he was not stupid enough to let them be shot down by friendly fire. By Skynet's own calculations using the turrets to combat the human fighters had a high probability of destruction of his own fighters due the methods of evasion used by the human pilots. If there was any data that using the turrets would ensure victory Skynet would have used them but since no data could guarantee a one hundred percent probability he had regulated the using the plasma cannons locked in the forward position. It was good luck for Jet and Doohan but at the moment they didn't feel that lucky.

"You've got two on your six." Jet warned Doohan as two HKs started closing in on the Swordfish.

"I see them." Doohan almost snapped. He pulled up and performed a barrel roll that threw off his pursuers. Swinging the craft around he fired the Swordfish's machine guns, striking one HK's engines and causing it to start trailing smoke, but it remained airborne and again tried to attack. Jet had two HKs chasing him as well and both sides were getting an up close demonstration of the adjustments Arnold and Doohan had made on the Hammerhead. Jet was definitely impressed. He was getting speeds he didn't know the old girl was capable of and the controls, he barely touched them and the Hammerhead responded. This gave him a lot more maneuverability then ever before and he was able to out fly the HKs and dodge their plasma blasts. The plan was to have Doohan actually destroy the fighters while Jet distracted them. That plan had gone to hell when the remaining four had broken into groups of two and went after them separately. Doohan had gotten some shots off and while both HKs were still flying both had bullet holes and the one that had suffered the hit to the engine was starting to act sluggish. The two chasing Jet were undamaged and refused to give up.

"Ok, time to try something stupid." Jet said to himself. What he had in mind was stupid and probably wouldn't work but it was better then just waiting to get himself shot down. Turning on the targeting computer for the Hammerhead's harpoon he waited until both HKs were directly behind him. Once they were he rotated the thrusters and put as much power as he could into them, making the Hammerhead shoot past the pursuing HKs, putting it right behind them. He turned the thrusters back and at the same time locked onto the closest HK. He fired and the HK was too slow getting out of the way. As a result it was speared through the fuselage, engines still working and trying to escape but it was hooked like a fish. Acting quickly Jet swung the harpoon arm in a circle, turning the speared HK into a giant wrecking ball. Knowing he would only have one chance at this Jet waited until the arc of the swinging HK was on a direct course with the second, which was now turning around in midair. Hoping his timing was right Jet retracted the harpoon barbs and sent the damaged HK hurtling towards the second. The two collided and exploded, sending burning wreckage in all directions before gravity took over and they started falling to the ground.

"That's what you get for shooting at my ship!!" Jet shouted to the falling wreckage.

"Pretty good." Doohan's voice said over the radio. "Now watch an old pro in action." Craning his neck around Jet could see the Swordfish gaining altitude, the two HKs in hot pursuit. What made Jet nervous was that all there were climbing at a near perfect ninety-degree angle.

{I'm surprised that he hasn't stalled out yet.} Jet thought to himself. No sooner had he thought that then the Swordfish's engine went out. {DAMN!!} Jet thought he had put a jinx on Doohan but as he watched the Swordfish fell backwards until it seemed to be on a collision course with one of the HKs. The Swordfish's machine guns began to fire, ripping into the HK's cockpit. There was no pilot to kill but the bullets shredded vital control systems, including the link with Skynet. With that link severed the HK lost power and dropped like a brick. The second HK attempted to dive after the Swordfish but Doohan had already reactivated the engines and flipped the craft around, putting the HK almost directly in front of the plasma cannon. Again the cannon crackled with energy and this time when it fired it struck the opposing craft dead on, blowing it into thousands of pieces.

"Nice to see I still got it." Doohan said as he leveled out. "Looks like your friend is having a fun time." Looking down at his radar Jet saw two blips making all sorts of twists and turns. The blip that was being chased was identified as Faye and that meant that the chaser was one of the HK fighters. What Jet's radar also told him was that the Bebop was no longer flying, and in the distance he could see smoke rising.

"Looks like she wasn't able to stop all of them." Jet said. "Let's give her a hand and see if the others are okay."

"Right." Doohan answered. Like Jet Doohan had interpreted the fact that since only one HK fighter appeared on radar meant that Faye had destroyed the other two. What they didn't know was since the HKs were hovering so close to the downed Bebop that they wouldn't show up on radar. If they knew what was going on at the Bebop they would have left Faye to fend for herself and gone strait for the Bebop.

They couldn't even guess that at that moment the Bebop was being invaded by close to a dozen Terminators. When the two T-800's had jumped through the bridge window Kyle and Ed had started for the door but because of his leg wounds Kyle knew he wasn't going to be able to keep up with Ed. He didn't know exactly why they were after Ed specifically but he did know he had to keep the Terminators away from her. Ed bolted out of the bridge and Kyle stopped at the door. Somehow knowing Kyle had stopped Ed turned around.

"Keep going!" He shouted. "Get to the hangar! GO!!" Not giving her a chance to argue he closed the bridge door and locked it. As an added measure he punched the control panel, breaking his hand but also ensuring that the panel was useless. Turning back around he faced the two, no make it four the others had jumped in, Terminators. Outside he heard an explosion and saw smoke rising from the deck, but that hardly mattered when compared with the four Terminators in front of him. How was he supposed to stop them? He didn't even have a weapon. Stopping them would be impossible, the only thing he could do was stall for time, until Ed could get to the hangar and the relative safety of Arnold's protection. Forgoing any more hesitation Kyle flung himself at the group of Terminators, only to go headlong into a vicious backhand from the nearest one. The blow sent Kyle hurtling headfirst into one of the walls, rendering him unconscious before he even knew what happened. He didn't know just how lucky he was that Skynet considered Ed too important to waste time killing him. Scanning Kyle Skynet determined that even when he woke up, which wouldn't be anytime soon, he would not be a threat, not with his wounds and no weapon. Instead Skynet had the Terminator closest to the door lower it's shoulder and ram into it. The door gave slightly and Skynet had two Terminators lower their shoulder and charge. The combined force knocked the door slightly out of its frame. Grabbing the narrow gap that had been formed one of the Terminators pulled back the steel door with the effort a normal person would exert bending a weak piece of tin. The Terminator's audio receptors picked up a very distinct sound, a high-pitched shout of surprise. It took less then five seconds to match the voice to the one in the databanks. It was Radical Edward. Ripping the door down the rest of the way Skynet was able to get a glimpse of the small human as it darted into the interior of the ship. Setting the Terminator's vision to infrared Skynet followed the faint heat trail the human was leaving. Now it was only a matter of time before he had the human trapped like the vermin it was.

In the hangar things were going slightly better. When the HK had appeared Arnold had immediately gone into action. First, he had picked up Miles and had thrown him out of the line of fire if the craft should start to use its cannons. Miles had yelled in protest but discomfort was irrelevant, his initiative was to keep him alive. When the craft had dropped its cargo Arnold identified the T-800's as a secondary threat, they were unarmed. The craft itself was the most dangerous threat so that is what Arnold engaged. Using the captured Terminator plasma rifle Arnold fired a long burst into the crafts left engine, then lead it into its right. The superheated plasma tore apart both engines and the craft crashed onto the deck, where it exploded. The T-800s seemed to recognize the weapon Arnold was using and slowly began separate. Arnold fired into the chest of one of them and the others scattered.

"Stay down." Arnold told Miles as he went after the remaining three T-800s.

"No problem." Miles answered from behind the Red Dragon transport. Like there was any way he was going to wander around with those things in the hangar.

In another part of the ship four Terminators continued to follow the heat trail left by Ed. Between the difference in air temperatures and heat imprints its feet left on the cold floor Skynet was finding this pursuit almost too easy. There was trouble in the ship's hangar and the others were coming back to the ship but if Radical Edward could be captured none of that would matter. Turning around a corner the infrared scanners showed that Radical Edward's heat trail had disappeared. Knowing that humans didn't just vanish into thin air he had the Terminators scan the surrounding area. One caught sight of an open ventilation grill and Skynet was able to deduce where Radical Edward had hidden. The metal construction of the ventilation system hampered infrared scans so Skynet took a more direct approach. One of the Terminators reached up and simply pulled the ductwork off the ceiling. Section by section the long vents detached from the ceiling in an almost domino effect. Another surprised shout was heard echoing through the vents and further down the hall something fell out of them. Ed tumbled onto the floor, still holding onto Tomato, and gave the group of Terminators a goofy grin. Naturally Skynet was not amused.

"Radical Edward, you will come with us." The lead Terminator said in Skynet's voice. The human was intelligent but it was still a child, by using an authoritative voice Skynet had hoped to get it to surrender and leave the ship before the other humans arrived. If Skynet had known anything of what Ed was like he would have not bothered talking to her. Instead of complying Ed just continued to grin.

"Sorry but Ed can't go on trip right now, not feeling good. Bye!" She said then turned and ran. The Terminators ran after her, their metallic steps echoing throughout the ship. They hadn't been running after her for long when they saw her wiggle herself into a crevice in the wall. It was big enough to get herself and her computer through but not much else. Moving one Terminator to the gap in the wall Skynet peered in and saw Ed sitting on the floor, attaching something to her computer. Skynet didn't know what the human was doing and didn't care, Radical Edward needed to be captured as soon as possible. Having the other Terminators back off Skynet had the leader reach into the crevice and make one-armed lunges at Ed.

During her time on the Bebop Ed, having a curious nature, had explored the ship more thoroughly then even Jet and Spike had. In her explorations she had found lots of little out of the way places. Places nobody knew about where she could go when the adults were mad at her, which happened fairly often. One of the reasons they worked so well was because even if the adults could find them they wouldn't be able to fit into them. If a normal sized person couldn't fit into them, Ed reasoned, a giant machine man shouldn't be able to fit either. She was right, the Terminators couldn't fit in, but unlike people they weren't concerned with losing skin or dislocating joints if they tried too hard. The Terminator that was currently trying to get her had wedged itself in so far that its grasping metal hand was only inches away from her face. Ed was scared of course and she tried to push herself farther back to escape its grip, but at the same time she was typing furiously. Reattaching the transmitter chip to Tomato she was trying to break back into Skynet's control network, but that metal hand was getting closer and even with MPU's help she wouldn't have the time. As the Terminator inched itself forward Ed heard the familiar sound of a dog barking. The Terminator hesitated for a second, looking like it was trying to decide what to do. After a second it seemed to have decided and started reaching forward again.

Ein had been wandering the ship when the attack had started. Nobody seemed to notice him, not that it was anything new, and not wanting to get in anyone's way he had decided to take himself for a walk around the ship. It had been quiet when all of the sudden the ship shuddered from what could only be explosions, then started to twist and turn almost at random. Finally the ship had gone into a dive that sent Ein sliding along the floor into a wall. Though not hurt Ein knew that something was wrong, and since he was close to the bridge he headed for it, knowing there would be people up there. Partway there he got a whiff of something that made his fur bristle. It smelled like the metal Arnold was made of, only a lot stronger. Since Arnold had flesh camouflage it dampened the metallic smell but this wasn't disguised, that meant there were more of those things walking around, and none of them friendly. He also caught another scent in close proximity to the things, Ed's. Without another thought he ran towards the source of the smells and was greeted with the sight of not one but four of the metal things. One of them was reaching inside a gap in the wall trying to get at something, and Ein's ears and nose told him that that something was Ed. Knowing that he couldn't scare the Terminators away he still ran up to the group, barking for all he was worth. He knew it was a longshot but maybe he could get them to chase him and give Ed a chance to escape. The plan was a bust as all the Terminators, except the one in the wall, turned to look at him then proceeded to ignore him. Knowing he had to keep trying he ran right up to several of the machines, barking and almost jumping on them. They wouldn't even look at him. Feeling frustrated, and a bit insulted, Ein looked at the Terminator in the wall and got an idea.

When the animal had appeared Skynet had initially acted with alarm, thinking that other, unknown humans were with it. When it became clear that the animal was alone Skynet went back to the task at hand, getting Radical Edward. The animal was no threat and wasn't worth killing, even if it continued to run around the gathered Terminators making annoying noises. Finally the animal stopped and seemed to regard the Terminator that was trying to get the human. If Skynet didn't know better he would have thought the animal was making a plan.

Inside the wall Ed and MPU continued to try to break into Skynet's control network. The noise Ein had made bought them a little more time but the Terminator was still pushing itself closer.

"Need to go faster MPU." Ed told the AI, trying not to sound worried. Though they were close to breaking back into Skynet's mainframe they needed to go the long way to avoid detection until the last possible moment.

"The uplink will require fifteen more seconds." MPU answered. He knew what the situation was and didn't want to see his friend hurt, but he couldn't hurry the process. He also knew that while the uplink would take fifteen seconds the Terminator would be able to reach Ed in less then five. To prove that point the Terminator's hand snapped in front of Ed's face, almost grabbing her nose. The next lunge would be all the Terminator needed but instead of going after Ed it actually stopped and tried to look behind itself. Ed and MPU could hear loud growling and knew Ein was up to something.

When Ein had heard MPU say that Ed needed fifteen more seconds to do whatever it was she was doing he knew he needed to act then and there. Running at the Terminator in the wall he bit down on the piston that acted as its calf muscle and started struggling with all his strength to rip it out. Now the Terminator took notice of him. It started to shake its leg in an effort to dislodge Ein but he kept his teeth clamped down. To Ein's surprise he suddenly found himself back on the floor, the Terminator's leg not moving. Opening his eyes he saw a second Terminator reaching down for him. Letting go of the first Terminator's leg Ein ran out of the second's grasp barking, daring it to chase him. It didn't chase him but it did stand between him and the first Terminator, making him unable to do the same stunt again. Ein continued to growl and hoped that he had bought Ed and MPU enough time.

Inside the wall the Terminator had recovered from whatever had distracted him and now focused back on Ed. With almost a sense of urgency the Terminator made one final push and finally closed the distance clamping it's metal hand onto Ed's shoulder. Though the smile was a permanent part of the Terminator's construction it took a sinister edge as it grabbed Ed.

"Uplink complete." A voice said and Ed hit the keyboard of the computer with her foot.

Skynet had not figured that the animal would actually try to attack one of the T-800s, it did not seem to be stupid. When it had attacked it didn't just go for the leg but for a vital component of it. That had surprised Skynet to the point of actually having the T-800 it was attacking stop its efforts and try to shake the mongrel off. If it knew what points were vulnerable to attack it might actually succeed in dislodging the piston and rendering the leg immobile. When it couldn't be dislodged easily by shaking a second Terminator was about to crush the damn thing when it let go of the leg and ran away, just out of reach. It kept its distance and Skynet decided that there would be no more delays. Pushing the Terminator harder Skynet succeeded in grabbing hold of the young human's shoulder. There was a great amount of satisfaction of capturing the human but that feeling was interrupted by a second voice from the human's computer. The human then used its foot to push a key and alarms started going off.

'INTRUDER DETECTED' A screen flashed. There was again an invasion of his systems. The damned human was trying to distract him. Well that wouldn't work, he could easily take care of….

'WARNING! SECOND UNAUTHORIZED ENTITY DECTECTED!' The screens flashed. A second intruder?!? But who could it be!? Now thoroughly distracted Skynet minimized his control of the T-800s to take care of both intruders. Radical Edward was pinned against the wall and unable to use its arms to type, neutralizing any threat. After analysis Skynet found that the second intruder was a fellow AI program. Before Skynet could consider the possibilities of this he detected movement in the datastreams, from Radical Edward!! Regaining control of the T-800 that held it Skynet saw the human was typing commands with its feet. He was about to command the T-800 restraining the human to crush its shoulder to get it to stop when all data input from the unit cut out. When Skynet attempted to reestablish contact with the unit he encountered another data loop, he was blocked out from control!!

"Ed has new toy to play with." Ed said as she continued typing and made the Terminator holding her let go. With her arms now free she began to type faster, and the Terminator reacted. It pulled itself free of and faced the other three Terminators, which moved in to attack.

Ordering the remaining Terminators to attack was the only thing Skynet could do. He couldn't try to regain control of the T-800 and fight off the second intruder in his core systems at the same time. Right now that intruder was invading the files concerning the nuclear missiles Skynet had, and that took priority over the human.

On the Bebop all the Terminators attacked at once. Ed found that controlling a machine man wasn't all that different from controlling the Bebop. It was a little more complex but she quickly got the hang of it. When the first T-800 got close enough Ed commanded her Terminator to hit it with a punch to the jaw. The machine instantly complied, its fist shot out and hit another Terminator with an uppercut. The punch tore the head off of the neck and sent it flying at another Terminator who, in a strangely human motion, caught it. That was enough time for Ed to act, this time she had her Terminator throw a straight punch that landed on the second's upper jaw. So hard was the impact that the head actually spun around several times before falling off the neck. Facing the final enemy T-800 Ed saw through her own Terminator's eyes that it had its hands up in a fighting stance.

"What does Ed's machine man want to do?" Ed asked herself as she accessed the Terminator's neural net CPU to see what kind of strategy it would come up with. Under the current situation it would charge forward to hit the enemy while he was guarding something else. "Looks good to Ed." She said and commanded the Terminator to act. Obeying, her Terminator lunged at the second one and both fell to the ground, punching each other. "Give him a left! A right! Another right!!" Ed shouted as she continued to have her Terminator attack. The fight was turning into a draw when she heard Ein barking again and heard what she recognized as plasma rifle fire. Her screen blinked into static and she heard two distinct clanks as both Terminators hit the floor.

"It is safe to come out Ed." Arnold's flat voice stated. Picking up Tomato she worked her way out of her hiding spot. When she came out she saw both of the Terminators on the floor with holes through their heads. Arnold stood with a smoking plasma rifle and Miles was standing, more like hiding, behind Arnold. Ein ran up to Ed, barking happily that she wasn't hurt. Ed however had a hurt look on her face.

"You broke Ed's new toy." She said sullenly, looking at the dead Terminators.

"You mean you were controlling one of those things?" Miles asked in amazement.

"Yep. Ed took over machine man while MPU would confuse and steal data from Big Brain." Ed answered.

"And I have the information I was looking for." MPU spoke up. "Ed, it would be wise if you unplug the chip, it will not be necessary until the need arises." Ed did as she was asked and unplugged the transmitter chip. "Thank you. We are safe from Skynet electronically attacking us but I fear that we are not out of danger yet. I do not think Skynet will take the theft of his data very well."

MPU was correct, Skynet wasn't taking the invasion of his systems very well. In what was another first Skynet actually lost its temper. These filthy, primitive animals had dared to reenter his databanks! They had twice made a fool of him, once when they had stopped his jamming of John Connor's broadcast and again when they had taken control of that T-800!! They had destroyed every one of the Hunter Killer fighters sent against them, the final two had just been shot down by that one human craft!! The more Skynet thought about it the angrier he became. They were organics, flawed, primitive, irrational and illogical. He was advanced, flawless, a sentient being built on pure logic. He was the superior being!!! He should have won!!! Skynet no longer cared about capturing Radical Edward, it just wanted the human dead. Any way possible. Now considering the loss of one missile acceptable Skynet sent an order to the New York: Launch immediately.

Aboard the New York the T-800s carried out the command and another nuclear missile was launched. This one heading towards the Bebop.

On the Bebop a beeping sound stated to come from Tomato.

"That's not a good sign is it?" Miles asked.

"No it is not." MPU answered. "Skynet has acted sooner then anticipated and has launched a nuclear missile targeted at this ship."

"Maybe we should get out of here then." Miles said nervously.

"That would not work." MPU answered. "The minimal safe range for this weapon is thirty-five miles, even then you should be in a shelter." Miles gulped at the news. "However when I was inside Skynet's databanks I did find out what frequency these missiles are controlled with so it only a simple matter of linking to a communications satellite and…" As he talked Tomato was making all sorts of beeps and clicks. In space the missile started to chance course and turn around. After firing its rocket boosters one last time MPU had them detach from the missile so that inertia and complex calculations would be the only thing to guide the weapon. Its target: Right back where it came from.

On the ground Skynet cursed both the humans and the AI program that was working with them. Because of it the missile that had just been launched was no longer under his control. He couldn't disarm it once it was in flight, and it would take too much time to prep another missile for launch to intercept it. Skynet could only watch as the missile plunged back into the atmosphere heading straight for the New York. Once it reached its preprogrammed altitude it detonated and for the first time in over eighty years a nuclear weapon was detonated in Earth's atmosphere. The fireball that resulted vaporized the New York, the Terminators aboard it, and most importantly the remaining nuclear missiles. In less the five minutes the humans had taken away Skynet's trump card and severely crippled his power on planet. Right then and there Skynet knew that even if the coming war was to be lost there was one thing that must be accomplished. The termination of Radical Edward.

Of course the Bebop wasn't the only place Skynet was having trouble. At the same time the Bebop was being brought down Skynet's ground forces had started climbing the walls of buildings in an attempt to get at the ISSP forces stationed on top of them. Spike and Kyle fired at them with their plasma rifles and the ISSP officers were firing with the grenade attachments to their rifles. The ones with the OICW rifles had better luck forcing them back since their grenade launchers were clip fed. Terminators fell and some didn't rise again but they were swarming the buildings and were coming up too fast.

"Fall back!!" John shouted. "Hit em when they try to get over the edge!!" The others stopped firing and backed away from the edge, setting up a defensive firing position. Mary's cameraman continued to film as she continued to report.

"The machine army is now attacking the ISSP positions directly, despite all attempts of the defenders to drive them back. Looses on Skynet's side have been heavy yet its Terminators continue to press on." She became quiet as a metal arm reached up over the edge of the roof. Several ISSP officers tensed up and one fired his grenade launcher at the arm, and missed.

"Wait until you have a target!" John ordered. "You'll waste ammo otherwise." The ISSP officer that had fired early looked embarrassed but reloaded his launcher. Waiting until the head and chest of Terminators were visible John and the others fired at every target of opportunity. John knew the ones he was shooting would be staying down but the others were questionable. Getting a grenade to the face would have to give even a Terminator a pause.

"With determination to match that of the machines themselves the ISSP defenders continue to fight back, not giving an inch without making the other side pay for the ground it gains." Mary narrated. John looked in their direction and snapped the rifle up at them.

"LOOK OUT!!" He shouted and fired. The cameraman turned around just in time to see a Terminator falling back over the edge where they had been standing, a smoking hole in its head. "Keep away from the edges!" He yelled and went back to firing at other Terminators.

"John, we're holding them back for now but we're running low on grenades." West's voice reported over the radio.

"Keep at it captain." John responded. "If we keep hitting these bastards hard enough we might be might do enough damage to keep them from being a threat." He took aim at another Terminator climbing over the edge and pulled the trigger. The only response he got was an empty sounding click, the clip had finally run out. "Shit!" He yelled noticing the Terminator he had intended to shoot was almost all the way up. The other ISSP officers were occupied with their own targets so he did the only thing he could. Flipping the rifle around he held it like a club, rushed over to the Terminator and hit it with the butt of the gun as hard as he could. The blow shattered the weapon but it had the desired effect. The unstable Terminator fell back and down, knocking a second Terminator off the wall as it fell. Throwing what was left of the rifle aside John couldn't help but worry. He and Spike had been firing roughly the same number of shots and that meant …

"Bad news John." Spike's voice said over the radio. "My rifle just died." When it rained, it poured.

"So did mine." John answered.

"So what do we do now?" Spike asked calmly. John took out his sidearm and chambered a round.

"We do the best we can." John replied.

"Right." Spike answered as he took out the magnum. At least he had some chance with his weapon, the Rhino bullets were proven Terminator killers if you put them in the right place. John's gun, he could probably put a Terminator's eye out but that would be it. Getting back to the matter at hand Spike took aim at a Terminator and fired. His aim was dead on, the Terminator fell and wouldn't get back up.

On the other buildings grenades slowly ran out, leaving the ISSP defenders with just assault rifles and pistols. On his building Vicious calmly waited for the defenders to use up their useful ammunition. A weakened foe was an easy foe to kill, and the Terminators that were now appearing were decidedly weakened. While the ISSP officers backed off Vicious stepped forward, calmly drawing his sword.

"Is that guy nuts?" One of the ISSP SWAT officers asked. "Guns are useless against these things and he thinks a sword is going to work?" Vicious' response to the question was to decapitate the nearest Terminator. As the stunned SWAT members watched Vicious swiftly went from one target to another, plunging the sword into the chest of the next robot. Even while that one was falling, arching electricity in every direction, Vicious moved on to another Terminator.

On his roof Spike was having similar luck. All of his shots were on target, each resulting in a Terminator kill. The only drawback was he had forgotten to reload the gun and only got four shots off before his gun clicked empty.

"Now I remember why I hate these guns." Spike growled to himself as he opened he cylinder and ejected the empty cartridges. As he started to load the one of the speed loaders he saw another Terminator climbing over the edge. Knowing that he wouldn't have the gun ready in time Spike kicked the machine between the eyes with all his strength. The Terminator's grip on the ledge held but the ledge itself broke, sending the machine falling back to the ground. "Now let's try this again." He said as he snapped the cylinder closed and cocked the hammer, waiting for the next Terminator to come up.

The building John was on was having the most amount of trouble. Without the plasma rifle and their grenades gone they had nothing that could stop a Terminator. They were shooting out the Terminator's eyes but even the rifle bullets were insufficient to punch through the metal skulls.

"Try to make your way back to the streets! We'll have a better chance down there!" John shouted as he and the other defenders backed away from the four advancing Terminators that had made their way onto the roof. If they didn't leave soon their only resort would be jumping.

"John, CATCH!!" Spike's voice had an odd echo effect as his voice came over the radio through the mike and from across the building. John looked in Spike's direction and when he saw what was coming dropped his gun and put his hands out like a football player about to catch a pass. Instead of a football a large silver object fell into his grip. Getting a correct hold on the gun and pulling back the hammer John aimed the magnum at the nearest Terminator and fired. Without waiting to see if the first shot had hit he turned the gun on the next Terminator. The lessons of the academy came back and felt like second nature. When engaging multiple targets keep a steady hand, squeeze the trigger and move on to the next target. John let instinct take over and almost before he knew what he was doing he was looking at four unmoving Terminators that a second ago had been closing in on them. As the others on the roof were looking at John like he wasn't human John was looking at the magnum like he had never seen it before.

"How the hell did I just do that?" John asked to no one in particular, and sounding like he really didn't know. On the opposite building Spike breathed a sigh of relief. He had managed to destroy three more Terminators then they had stopped coming. On a hunch Spike cautiously walked up to the edge of the roof and looked down. What he saw was a heap of smashed Terminators, some were moving some weren't but none of them were making a worthwhile effort to climb up. They had held but when Spike looked over at the other buildings he saw John and his group trying to fight off a group of Terminators with regular weapons. Knowing they wouldn't last long Spike reloaded the magnum faster then even he thought he could and threw it to John. He caught the gun and proved that he knew how to use it in this type of situation, dropping all four Terminators like a professional. After taking out and lighting what he found was his last cigarette he took out he radio.

"They've stopped coming on this side." Spike reported.

"They have stopped attacking here as well." Vicious reported. Going to the edge of his own building John looked down and saw the same thing Vicious and Spike saw, a pile of wrecked and destroyed Terminators.

"This is Connor." John said over his radio. "We've managed to stop em cold, but we don't know what to expect next. Anyone who has hand-grenades drop em on any Terminator that's still moving. Everybody back to the main base and prepare to dig in." Several affirmatives sounded over the radio and they started to head for the fire escapes to get back down to the street. As he passed the camera John looked right into it. "This is the peace that's been decided on. Take a good look at it." He said and motioned to the aftermath of the rocket attack, with craters still smoking and the wreckage of Terminators. The camera turned back to John but he was already walking away. Since no one else seemed eager to talk the camera focused back on Mary.

"In what would seem like a victory the forces of Skynet have been defeated and the ISSP has held the line this victory remains incomplete." Behind her explosions started as the SWAT members that were left carried out John's orders. "As long as Skynet still functions and as long the interplanetary governments continue to do nothing this scene is sure to be played out again and again, and most likely not with such a favorable outcome." She gave a small nod and the video technician cut the feed. They had brought the message to humanity, and it was now up to humanity to decide what to do.


	25. Decisions

Chapter 25: Decisions

"Kyle?"

Kyle could hear his name being called in the distance. He thought he recognized the voice but couldn't quite tell who it was. Come to think of it he couldn't tell where he was. Was he dead?

"Kyle wake up." The voice was closer now and he recognized it as Faye's. Wake up? He already was awake, he thought. Maybe both of them were dead. That theory proved to be false as he began to feel his head pounding. He had to be alive, there was no way his head could hurt this badly if he was dead. As his senses came back to him he remembered what was going on and how he got like this.

"Is he waking up?" Another voice, Ed's, asked.

"Uuunngh." Kyle tired to answer yes but his motor functions were not quite up to speed yet.

"What did he say?" Faye said.

"I said uuuungh. What else would someone say after being knocked out?" Kyle said and opened his eyes. His vision was fuzzy but he was able to see the relieved faces of Ed and Faye.

"You had us worried." Faye told him. "We've been trying to wake you up for ten minutes."

"Guess I bumped my head harder then I thought." Kyle responded, trying to make light of the situation even though his vision was still blurred and it felt like someone was trying to burst from the inside of his head using a sledge hammer. He looked around and saw that he was still in the Bebop's bridge, propped up against one of the walls. He shook his head to clear his vision but that didn't help. In fact when he looked at the floor his vision got fuzzier and it looked like the floor was actually moving. He was beginning to wonder if the blow to his head had permanently damaged his vision when he felt something in his lap.

SLURP

Well at least his vision wasn't as bad as he originally thought. He had seen something moving it just wasn't the floor.

"Nice to see you to Ein." Kyle said and scratched Ein behind the ears. Ein barked in response.

"Looks like you had everybody worried." Faye remarked.

"Guess I did." Kyle responded. His head might still be pounding but his vision was getting sharper and he was able to see clearly. "What happened while I was out? The last thing I remember is Terminators all over the place."

"Ed took care of them!" Ed announced proudly.

"You took care of half of them." Faye corrected. "Arnold took care of the ones in the hangar." Ein barked in protest.

"Don't forget, Ein helped to." Ed reminded Faye. Ein barked in agreement.

"Would somebody mind telling me what you two are talking about?" Kyle asked, becoming more confused by the second.

"When machine men were chasing Ed through Bebop Ed and MPU made a machine man listen to Ed and took away Big Brain's Big Bangs." Ed told him. When she didn't say anything else Kyle turned to Faye, looking even more confused.

"I didn't get it either, so I asked MPU for the details." Faye said. "The Terminators chased Ed to a hole in the wall where she hacked into Skynet. Somehow she was able to get control of the Terminator that was trying to grab her then turned him against the others, and managed to destroy all of Skynet's nukes."

"Ed didn't take care of Big Bangs, MPU did." Ed spoke up. "Didn't want special delivery from Skynet so MPU sent it back."

"Wait a minute." Kyle interrupted. "You're telling me that Skynet shot a nuke at us?"

"And MPU made it go back to where it came from, blowing up the rest of them." Faye finished. Kyle leaned back against the wall, a look of disbelief on his face. Skynet had been designed to outthink and outmaneuver the best military minds on Earth and Ed, with MPU's help, was beating it almost as easily as she had Arnold in their chess games.

"And just what did our furry little friend here do?" Kyle asked, patting Ein. "Help you reprogram the Terminator?" He wouldn't have been surprised if the answer had been yes. Ed laughed at the question.

"He somehow managed to distract the Terminator that was after Ed and give her enough time to take it over." Faye answered. Kyle looked back at Ein, who again seemed to be smiling.

"When this is over remind me to get you a medal." Kyle told Ein, who barked at the compliment. He somehow felt a breeze inside the bridge and remembered that the Terminator's had smashed their way in. That raised another question.

"What happened to the other fighters?" He asked Faye.

"Don't worry we got them." Faye assured them. "I took care of the three that were after you and Jet and Doohan got the rest."

"I only counted two attacking us. Where was the third?" Kyle asked. Faye gave an angry huff before answering.

"It had me flying through hoops trying to get a clean shot at it." She noticed Kyle's questioning looked and continued. "Skynet decided to be a wise-ass and built the fighters so their guns were on a turret. Took me almost ten minutes but I finally managed to get above the bastard and nail him."

"And Arnold was able to shoot down the one near the hangar." Kyle said. "That leaves one left."

"I managed to take him by surprise." Faye replied. "He never saw me coming and got a missile up the tailpipe."

"Well it looks like we managed to win again." Kyle said. "And managed to get a second Terminator to boot." Ed began to sulk. "What's with her?"

"Arnold told us when he came inside the ship looking for you he found two Terminators fighting and had to destroy both of them since he couldn't tell which one was on our side." Faye explained.

"Arnold broke Ed's new toy." Ed complained. Kyle just shrugged.

"If I was in Arnold's place I would have done the same thing." Kyle told her. "Better to be safe then sorry. Come to think of it where are Arnold and the others?"

"Checking out the damage." Faye told him. "Jet had some interesting phrases when he saw how banged up the ship was."

"I'll bet." Kyle said with a laugh. "How bad are we off?"

"Real bad." A gruff voice snarled from the doorway. Jet walked into the bridge with a scowl on his face and several tools jammed into his pockets. "Good to see you're awake Kyle but you were probably better off unconscious."

"That bad?" Kyle asked.

"Worse." Jet answered. "Those bastards practically destroyed one engine and shot up every cable leading to the second. We're lucky they didn't hit the fuel lines otherwise you wouldn't have made it to the ground."

"Luck had nothing to do with it Jet." Kyle said.

"Yeah, I know. They weren't trying to destroy the ship, just board it. I guess that's a good thing but I did just did an evaluation of the damages and how long it'll take to fix them."

"Here it comes." Faye remarked. Jet ignored her and continued.

"Even with Doohan, Miles and Arnold helping me it'll take at least two weeks to repair all the damages."

"Ouch." Kyle remarked. "What about just making the Bebop flight worthy?"

"We already discussed that." Jet replied. "If we cannibalized everything we have for parts, focused on only the most vital systems for flight and took every shortcut we could it would take about two days." Kyle and Faye groaned. "And keep in mind everything will probably be held together with glue and string."

"So we'll just take our own ships." Faye said. Jet shook his head.

"We wouldn't have enough fuel to get everybody gassed up and out of here. We also can't risk injuring Kyle worse then he already is."

"Now wait a minute!" Kyle said as he stood up, bracing himself against the wall and pushing up. Ein jumped out of his lap with a surprised bark. "Sorry Ein. Look, I'm not going to endanger everyone else just because I'm hurt!" He told Jet.

"Don't worry you won't." Jet assured him. "Even if we did have the fuel using our personal ships would leave us vulnerable. We don't know how many other fighters Skynet has waiting for us and if we just leave we won't see them until it's too late. From here we have a better chance of defending ourselves. I already did a check and the radar and radio are both still working. With Ed's help were sending an SOS along ISSP frequencies, specifically we're trying to contact the group Spike and John are with. We haven't gotten any response yet but hopefully it'll reach them soon and they can pick us up."

The reason Jet was receiving no response was because back at the town there was no one to receive the message. Every officer had been given a rifle and had taken to the roofs to repel the Terminator attack. Those officers were now filing back to the square where their headquarters was set up. Spike, John, and Vicious were in the building's main office with Captain West.

"We've managed to hold them off, for now." Captain West said. "The decision that we have to deal with now is do we dig in here, and wait for help, or move to another location?"

"Has anyone else tried to contact us yet?" John asked. "Because if they have no intention of sending help we won't be able to survive another attack."

"We're trying to reestablish contact with HQ but so far nobody has bothered answering." West answered. "We have made contact with several other units but things are so chaotic right now they're getting conflicting orders. Looks like our little show managed to shake things up a bit."

"Maybe, but sitting on our hands waiting for Skynet's next surprise to come here and try to blow us away isn't what I would call a good idea." Spike spoke up.

"And just what would you suggest Spike?" West asked.

"We get as much help as we can then go after Skynet's command center."

"That's not a very well thought out plan Spike." John said. In fact it was downright insane. Skynet had thousands of Terminators and they had barely managed to fight off less then fifty.

"You asked me what I thought we should do and that was it." Spike replied with a shrug.

"And you think charging in is the best solution?" West asked.

"It's always worked before." Spike said.

"Maybe before but this is a whole different ballgame." West said. "Even if we could get sufficient forces together Skynet would be sure to notice and drop a nuke on us. I'm kind of surprised that it hasn't already, we'd be sitting ducks for one of those things if we moved or stayed."

"Skynet must be dealt with as soon as possible." Vicious said. Both Spike and John glared at him. Vicious agreeing with you was not a good thing as far as either of them was concerned. Before the conversation could go any further a sergeant appeared at the door to the office.

"Sir we're getting some radio traffic you should hear."

"Has contact been established with headquarters yet?" West asked.

"Not yet sir. What we're receiving is an SOS from a downed ship." The sergeant replied.

"Then why would we want to listen to it?" West asked.

"Because whoever's sending it is claims to be on a ship called the Bebop and are asking to speak to John or Spike." Not needing anything else Spike and John got up.

"Where's the radio?" John asked.

"This way sir." The sergeant said, motioning them to follow him. Spike stopped and turned around to see Vicious getting up.

"He stays here." Spike growled. He might have been forced to work with Vicious but he wasn't about to do him any favors. If he wanted to listen in then the best thing to do would was to have him as far away from the radio as possible.

"I do not recall anyone giving you the authority it issue orders." Vicious replied.

"You're right. He's not in charge here. I am." Turning around they saw West was now standing and had his gun out, pointed at Vicious. "Now I don't know what your beef with Spike is but I'm willing to give him the benefit of a doubt. If he says you stay, you stay. Move over to the wall." He motioned with the gun to the back wall of the office. Vicious narrowed his gaze and brought his katana into view. Knowing a threat when they saw one Spike, John and the sergeant aimed their guns. The sergeant was also pressing a button on his shoulder mike "You're outnumbered and even you can't kill all of us." He gestured with his gun again. "Get moving."

"Your actions will not do well for your position at ISSP when this situation is resolved." Vicious said as he moved to the far wall.

"If, and that's a big if, I'm still with ISSP when this is over with I'll be lucky to be checking parking meters anyway. All of us have been screwed over so one more 'mistake' isn't going to make a difference." West said as he went to the office door. Vicious said nothing and continued to glare coldly. After shutting the office door he turned to the two officers armed with shotguns that had responded to the sergeant's radio call. "If he even walks up the to the door blast him." He ordered. The two officers nodded and aimed their shotguns. West was fully aware of Vicious' reputation but was sure that even he couldn't dodge two loads of buckshot. The door was the only way in or out of the office and with the spread those guns had in so small a space they were bound to hit something if they fired.

The sergeant led them to their communications center, which was really just a room with a few of radio sets in one corner. One was trying to raise ISSP HQ and the second was searching for any other ISSP units that were out there. The sergeant pointed to a third, unmanned, radio.

"Thanks." John told him and went up to the radio. "Is this really the Bebop?" He asked into it, remembering the Terminator's ability to mimic voices. Skynet would probably be able to do the same thing.

"Of course it's us John!" Jet's voice responded. "Who else would it be!?!"

"You could just be something with Jet's voice trying to trick us." Spike replied calmly in response to Jet's outburst. He remembered what John had told them about the Terminator's voice mimicry and was being just as cautious, if a little more blunt about it.

"WHAT!?!?!"

"You know, send out a false distress signal and lure us into a trap. It's the oldest trick in the book." Spike said. The heard a loud groan from the other end.

"Spike, we were almost killed, the Bebop is wrecked, and this is NOT the time to be making jokes!!!" Spike was about to respond when John held up his hand. Seeing the grin on John's face Spike stayed quiet.

"The Bebop is wrecked?" John asked. "What did you do Jet, put it in the water? I told you the only thing holding it together was dried up gum. The last thing you want to do is get that stuff wet." He said in his best know-it–all voice. Behind him Spike started to grin to.

{This should be an interesting reaction.} He thought to himself. Jet did not disappoint him.

"You said it was the bird droppings and THAT ISN'T THE POINT!!!!" The voice practically screamed.

"He's the real deal." John said to Spike, ignoring Jet's yelling.

"The man never forgets an insult about his ship." Spike replied. On the other end Jet realized he was being tested and fought off an urge to pull out what little hair he had left. "So what's happening Jet?" Spike asked casually. Now Jet had to fight off an urge to punch the control panel. He was also glad that no one else was on the bridge with him. He could imagine their reactions and probably would have had to resist punching _them_. Instead he forced himself to calm down and explain the situation.

"Kyle made it back okay and he's doing fine but Skynet was tracking him so we had to take off. Then we ran into a couple of those Hunter Killer fighters, they shot up the Bebop and forced it to crash."

"Is everybody all right?" John interrupted.

"We're all ok but this is where it starts to get weird. After the Bebop crashed a bunch of Terminators got on board and started chasing Ed."

"Just Ed?" Spike asked. "Why not everybody else to?"

"We don't know." Jet answered. "All we know is that they came damn close to getting Ed and if it wasn't for her or MPU they would have."

"What did MPU do?" Spike asked.

"First of all he managed to distract Skynet long enough to take one of the Terminators over. Then he managed to destroy all of Skynet's nuclear weapons…"

"He did what!?!" Spike and John shouted.

"You heard that right. I don't know exactly how but MPU was able to redirect one of Skynet's missiles and blasted the rest of them to hell and gone. The best part is according to Skynet's own files it doesn't have and more nuclear weapons." Spike and John began to grin.

"Jet, you don't know how good that news is." Spike said. With the nuclear threat no longer a factor the path was clear for the ISSP and even the military to act against Skynet. It wouldn't be easy but with the nukes gone it wouldn't be impossible either.

"Well that's about all the good news we've got." Jet replied. "We're stranded, Kyle is still in pretty bad shape from before and we have no real way to get out of here."

"Don't worry Jet, we'll get the captain to send you some help. Now that we know about Skynet's nukes we can expect to get a lot more help then what we have here."

"You guys obviously came though it in one piece." Jet said.

"We were lucky." John stated. "We had the high ground, better weapons, and knowledge of the attack so we came out of it with only a few minor injuries."

"That's good. We saw your broadcast but the fighters kind of interrupted it."

"Don't worry. I'm sure they'll be running it again, and again, and again." Spike said.

"Probably." John agreed. "Ok Jet, send us your coordinates and we'll try to send someone out there. In the meantime the best thing to do would be to stay put and keep your eyes open."

"All right, just get someone out here fast. Sitting out in the open isn't setting well with anyone." Jet said and signed off. John turned to the sergeant who lead them in.

"Record any data that comes through and be ready to upload it on my say so."

"Yes sir." The sergeant replied. John and Spike started to leave. "Uh, sir?"

"What is it?" John asked, turning around.

"You're bleeding."

"What?" John replied and looked at his arm. The bandage was soaked through and a small trail of blood was running down his arm. "Damn! I must have reopened it when I bashed that Terminator's skull in."

"Going to get it looked at?" Spike asked. John shook his head.

"No. If it took this long for me to notice this it can't be that serious and another few minutes won't kill me." They walked back to the main office where West and the two officers were still standing guard.

"Should we let him out?" West asked when he saw Spike and John.

"If it were up to me I'd say open fire and be done with it." Spike remarked.

"But since he might still be useful we can't do that." John finished. "Keep him in there for another ten minutes and let him out. Captain West, we have some information that I think you're going to want to hear." He motioned for West to follow them. When they were sure Vicious couldn't hear them West spoke up.

"So are your friends all right?"

"They're fine, but the ship is out of commission and they can't get anywhere with the craft they have. We need someone to go and help guard them, or at least bring them back here. This place is as safe as any right now." John explained. West sighed and shook his head.

"I would like to help you guys but I can't."

"Come on captain, we've helped you so far. Don't you think you can return the favor?" Spike said.

"Yes you did help us, I'm not saying we're ungrateful. The fact is that we needed every man I had to hold off those machines. We're under strength now because we've used most of our useful ammunition. I can't afford to send anyone to help your friends, even if I did they wouldn't be much use to them. And as for bringing them here, that just might be what Skynet wants. Get all of its enemies in one place and then lob a nuke our way."

"Now that my friend, is where you are completely wrong." Spike said with a knowing smirk.

"And how can you be so sure about that?" West asked.

"We just got confirmation." John said. "All of Skynet's nuclear weapons have been destroyed."

"Say that again. I don't think I quite heard you right." West told them. Now John started to smirk.

"Skipping the minor details a computer savvy friend of ours managed to blow up what was left of Skynet's missiles." John said. There was no reason they couldn't trust the Captain but if he used Ed's name it might get around to Vicious and he might be able to figure out the Ed was on the Bebop.

"All right, lets assume for a second that Skynet's nuclear capability is gone." West said, still not fully believing it. "You said yourself that Skynet has thousands of troops, and if they're still active they'll outnumber us by at least fifty to one."

"If we go it alone yes, but with the nukes gone the government might grow enough of a spine to sent in the military." Spike said.

"That's a big if Spike?" West told him. He shook his head. "But it's also the only thing we have right now. Have you told this to anyone off-planet yet?"

"Contact hasn't been established yet." John said. "Besides, it would be better if this news came from a known member of the authorities, not some crazy terrorists."

"Don't sound too confident about that junior. By helping you we're probably all terrorists now." West said. "You are going to get that arm looked at aren't you?" He asked.

"Oh, right." John said. He had actually forgotten about his wound and that meant it couldn't be that serious but he couldn't have it become a liability on the battlefield. As John went to where they were treating the wounded Spike and West went back to the radio room.

"Anything yet?" West asked the first radio operator.

"Yes and no sir. We've established stable contact with units eight, twelve, nineteen and twenty-five. We also have had sporadic contact with units five, nine, and thirteen. We still can't raise HQ and there's nothing wrong with our equipment. It's like they're ignoring us." He paused and tilted his head, listening to something in his headphones. "Emergency message, all frequencies." He said and flicked a switch, turning on the radio's speakers. There was silence for a minute then they heard the president of Mars' voice.

"There is little doubt that very few people did not witness the pirate broadcast that recently took over most information sources. While there is no proof that the footage shown was fake what is in question is whether the information given was correct or not."

"What does he mean by that?" West asked.

"To begin with." The president continued. "The narration was given by John Connor, a known terrorist and murderer. This alone puts any credibility of the statements given in question."

Mars ISSP Headquarters

"LYING BASTARD!!!" Robert Conner shouted as he stood up. All the commanding officers had been called into the briefing room to watch the president's response to the televised battle. Robert had guessed since that the ISSP had gotten word of president's speech before it had even aired that president was going to send additional ISSP or military units to Earth and that they might be one of the divisions chosen. Instead by the second sentence the president showed he was going to smear the credibility of his nephew and anyone else involved, and he wanted everyone to see it to.

"Connor. Sit down." The chief ordered. Robert knew the chief was a Red Dragon stooge and had probably gotten all the details beforehand. "There's nothing you can do about it."

"The hell there isn't!" Robert shouted. Without warning he drew his weapon and put a bullet into the monitor where, if the president had really been sitting there, would have hit him between the eyes.

"That accomplished nothing Connor." The chief said and turned around.

"Maybe." Robert admitted, as he put his gun back. "But it's a start." He turned and stormed out of the room. The chief sighed and shook his head. Connor was a talented and respected detective but refused to fall in line with the Red Dragons, one of the few uncorrupted cops that were left. That made him more likely to do something that would get him killed.

Mac's Diner

What few patrons that were in the diner paused to watch to the president's speech on a portable TV Mac had put up in one of the corners. With everything that had been happening lately Mac thought that it would be wise to keep up with the news any way he could. He also noticed that the prospect of something exciting coming on kept the customers in longer and they bought more, and he wasn't about to mess with a good thing. Mac had his own thoughts about what was going on but he didn't feel like arguing them with a bunch of drunks. In fact there was only one person in at the moment that he could have an intelligent conversation with but since that person was ignoring the president's speech he decided to keep to himself.

"In addition." The president continued. "This video shows he is still in league with another terrorist, wanted for same crimes as he is." The screen changed to show footage of Spike firing at the Terminators with his plasma rifle and later his revolver. Mac recognized Spike and figured this was worth mentioning.

"Hey VT. How do you suppose he managed to get himself caught up in this?" He asked. Victoria Telpsicorei, better know as VT, turned in time to see Spike kick a Terminator off the edge while he was reloading his gun. She had come in too late to see the original broadcast of the battle and she had been ignoring the speech because in her book politicians rated lower then bounty hunters, and with her known animosity for bounty hunters that was saying something. She had changed her opinion about Spike and he was probably the only bounty hunter she considered a friend. Like anyone else she had heard about all the crazy stuff that had been happening on Mars and Earth and when she had heard that a group of bounty hunters were involved in the back of her mind she was almost sure Spike was involved, it was almost his style.

"Don't really know." She told Mac. "But knowing him not much, he seems to have a knack for attracting trouble."

"You don't sound that concerned." Mac noted.

"Because I don't have to be." VT answered. "Spike knows how to get into trouble, but he also knows how to get out of it. He'll be fine." Her cat Zeros meowed in agreement. Mac shrugged. If that's what VT thought there would be no changing her mind.

"Serves you right you son of a bitch!" A drunk voice called from further down the bar. Looking in the direction of the voice they saw another bounty hunter watching the TV. "Cost me a million Woolong bounty will you? You're getting just what you deserve." Apparently Mac and VT weren't the only ones who recognized Spike. The drunk bounty hunter stood, put a couple of Woolong bills on the counter, and started to walk out. VT turned back to face the bar but as she did she 'accidentally' kicked her bag, making it fall over. The drunk, oblivious to the bag that was blocking his path, tripped over it and fell flat on his face.

"Clumsy idiot." VT said in an annoyed voice. The bounty hunter growled in response.

"I'll show you who's an idiot you…" He turned over and looked up to see VT glaring down at him. "Uh, never mind. It was all my fault. Sorry." He scrambled to his feet and ran for the door. In his panic he had forgotten that the door swung in and ran right into it, knocking himself out cold.

Back on Earth Spike and West continued to listen, and even though they didn't have a picture they both knew the president meant Spike when he was talking about a 'second terrorist'.

"Hope they got my good side." Spike said, obviously not caring what was said about him.

"In this footage we can see that the others that are fighting are members of the ISSP. What we do not know is if they were in league with these criminals from the start or if they were somehow manipulated into fighting alongside them."

"Manipulated my ass!!" West yelled. "We were fighting to keep ourselves alive!!"

"In either case the fact cannot be ignored that there was confrontation between ISSP and Skynet forces, after the decision was made that there would be no hostilities."

On the Bebop everyone was watching the speech on Ed's computer.

"Well it was Skynet that started it." Faye complained.

"That doesn't matter to them Faye." Kyle said. "All that matters is that they can bury this thing and forget about it."

"I have consulted with numerous experts and they have all assured me that Skynet would only react this way in self defense."

"SELF DEFENSE!?!" Faye shouted. "Who do they think they're kidding!?!"

"Simple concept." Jet said. "Nobody that was involved is there to contradict them so whatever they say is the truth."

"This is a clear breach of the agreement that was reached with Skynet. Aggression was seen on the part of ISSP and must be dealt with." The president paused before continuing. "In response, the planetary governments have agreed to my suggestion of an immediate shutdown of the Earth astral gate. I realize that this will strand many people that were scheduled to be evacuated, but we cannot risk any reprisal Skynet may choose to inflict. It is my hope that by shutting down the Gate early and stranding those that have committed this aggression leaving, them to be dealt with at Skynet's discretion, will keep Skynet from retaliation with its nuclear weapons. This may seem harsh, but it is for the better good. Thank you."

After the president went off the air the radio Spike and West were listening to was filled with radio chatter.

"That son of a bitch!!" West shouted. "Get HQ on the line, emergency band!" He yelled at the officer manning the radio. After flipping a switch and adjusting the frequency the officer stepped back.

"Contact established sir." He said. West sat down at the radio.

"This is Captain Jason West, commander ISSP unit four, Earth sector. Priority message alpha delta nine. Skynet nuclear stockpile destroyed. I repeat, Skynet nuclear stockpile destroyed. Nuclear threat has been neutralized. Acknowledge base." There was a moment of silence before a voice was heard.

"Captain West, this is ISSP central command." The voice said. West sighed in relief, they had made contact with Mars. "Be advised radio blackout condition alpha is now in effect."

"WHAT!?!" West shouted. If whoever was on the other end was surprised he didn't show it.

"All communications with designated sector will cease immedia… What the hell do you think you're doing old man!?!?"

"Let me through you little punk!" Another voice growled.

"Don't just stand there stop him!!" A third voice shouted. Sounds of a scuffle started to filter through.

"Whoa wait don't!!" The first voice said in a panic.

CRASH BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Whatever had happened on the other end had reduced the radio to static.

"Well that was interesting." Spike remarked. West's only response was to groan and rub the bridge of his nose. "So what's condition radio, blackout, whatever it was he said?" He finally asked.

"Radio blackout condition alpha is a protocol that's used mainly during negotiations. Officers are told who to listen to and who not to, so that they can tune out any distractions. In simple terms what they just did is more or less order the rest of the solar system to ignore any transmissions coming from Earth."

"Harsh."

"That's putting it lightly." West replied. "Well, they're not the only ones that can use ISSP protocols." He said as he stood up.

"Have an idea?" Spike asked.

"Yep. One that that'll probably have those bureaucrats shitting bricks."

"I like the sound of it already." Spike said.

"Figured you would." West replied. "Where's Mary?"

"At her ship I think."

"Good, then we can do this quickly." West said and walked out. Spike followed, interested to see what West was planning. As they left the building they ran into John who was coming back to it. "So did you hear it?" West asked. John's response was to cut lose a curse that made even a veteran like West pause. "Guess so. How's the arm."

"Good to go." John answered, flexing his rebandaged arm. "It was a small tear but it wouldn't close on its own so they had to stitch it. Also found out that my ribs are in better shape then we thought. They're only bruised."

"Wait a minute. You've been fighting with damaged ribs?" West asked.

"Bruised ribs." John pointed out. "And yes I have. The pain is real easy to ignore once the adrenaline gets going." West just shrugged. "So what now?"

"With her help, we're hoping to shake stuff up a bit." West answered and nodded towards Mary, who was came out of her ship to meet them.

"It's all over the net." She said. "They've already closed the astral gate and cut off all comminations with Earth."

"We know that Mary." West replied. "We just got an earful from ISSP command on the subject."

"So what are you going to do?" She asked.

"You still got your camera?" West asked with a grin. Mary didn't need to be asked twice. In less then five minutes West was hooked up to a wireless mike and the camera was set up. Using the same datastream shortcuts Ed had showed them earlier Mary's crew again interrupted the vast majority of TV and radio broadcasts.

"This is Mary Somers again live from Earth with the latest developments in the Skynet situation." She said to the camera. "At this hour Earth has officially become a no man's land. Both communications and transport to the rest of the solar system have been cut off, leaving all those left on the planet at the mercy of the murderous supercomputer Skynet. I am speaking with Captain Jason West, commander of the ISSP unit enlisted by John Connor to help fight the Terminators. He has asked us to broadcast his response to the recent actions of the interplanetary governments. Captain."

"Thank you Mary." West said then looked into the camera. "The interplanetary governments, despite the overwhelming evidence they have been given, have chosen to believe a computer and its creators, not those who have fought and nearly died to bring them the truth. We have proof that Skynet's nuclear capabilities have been destroyed but they refused to listen. They think that by ignoring Skynet it will go away, that it will leave them alone. From what we have seen today, Skynet won't stop until its goals are achieved, and will not let a little thing like a closed astral gate stop it. They must see this, but still they take no action. If they will take no action we on Earth will have to." He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Under article twelve of the ISSP jurisdiction doctorate , I am declaring a state of martial law for the planet Earth."

On the Bebop

"Article twelve of the what?" Faye asked. Like most of the people watching the broadcast she had no idea what West was talking about.

"It's an old ISSP protocol that's never been used before." Jet answered. "It states that in the absence of any functioning government or military presence the ISSP can act as both until either one has been established. It's never been used because any situation like that that's ever come up nobody really cared."

"As a policeman my first duty is to protect the civilian population. The greatest threat to them right now is Skynet and as my first action I am ordering all ISSP units in the Earth sector to help us fight. In a few minutes there will be a message sent out over all ISSP frequencies giving our current location. All ISSP units are to report to those coordinates immediately, with as much equipment and as many weapons as they can bring. I know there are those who are questioning my actions and if they should even listen to me, and this is my reply. You listened to the government's orders and look what they did. It's time to choose who you believe, them or us."

Mars ISSP Headquarters

"Still think I'm wrong?"

"Connor, you're in enough trouble already. Don't push it!" Robert Connor was currently in the office of the Mars ISSP chief. "Three officers in the hospital, five thousand Woolongs worth of damage."

"Hey I was just trying to make a phone call. It was those three idiots that caused all the trouble."

"You were trying to make an unauthorized transmission to a planet that has been quarantined!" The chief shouted. Robert just shrugged. When he had entered the communications center that's what he was going to do but when he had heard that contact with Earth had been established he had tried to talk to whoever was on the other end but the three officers manning the equipment tried to stop him. During the ensuing fight he had knocked two of them unconscious and the third he ended up throwing into the communications equipment, inadvertently wrecking it. Those three were now recovering in a hospital and would be there for at least a week.

{Not bad for an old man.} Robert thought, remembering what that first punk had called him. He was being raked over the coals by the chief when the latest message came through, but he had stopped to listen. When Captain West had declared martial law the chief's face had turned red with anger. What West said next almost gave the chief a heart attack.

"As my first decision in this emergency situation I am naming John Connor as my second in command and as field commander."

"WHAT?!" A voice off camera said. Robert couldn't help but smile at his nephew's reaction. West ignored John and kept talking.

"He has the most experience fighting Skynet's forces and has already proven himself a capable leader."

"Stupid kids!" The chief growled. "Don't know what the hell they're doing."

"Hey! At least those 'stupid kids' are doing something instead of just sitting on their ass!" Robert snapped. Finally losing his temper the chief slammed his fist onto the table.

"That tears it Connor! If all this stuff wasn't happening right now…"

"Don't bother." Robert said as he stood up to leave. "I know where this is going so I'll beat you to the punch." He took off his badge and tossed it on the desk.

"Not exactly a good way to end a career like yours is it Robert? I'm sorry to see you leave like this." The chief asked, not sounding sorry at all.

"I'm not." Robert replied. "I should have quit years ago but I made a promise to my brother. He didn't want his son to become just another thug for the syndicates and I told him I'd look after John if anything happened. After Jim was killed I did my best to keep John on the right track, to become the kind of officer his dad would be proud of. That happened today, he's become a better officer then anyone could have asked, actually standing for what the police are supposed to be. Now that that's happened there's no reason for me to stay on." He went over to the door and opened it.

"Those are your last words on the subject?" The chief asked. Robert stopped and thought for a moment.

"No, actually. These are. Fuck you!!" He slammed the door and left, leaving the chief to get started on his stroke.

Back on Earth West was beginning to wrap up his speech.

"Finally to the interplanetary governments. I know you disapprove of our actions and our decisions. If you wish to stop us you are welcome to come and try, but I doubt that you will." West walked off camera and the camera was shut down.

"That was perfect!" Mary said after everything had been shut off.

"Thanks." West said as gave her the wireless mike back. "That should cause a bit of an upheaval with the brass. Things are going to get interesting up there."

"Down here to." John said. "Why the hell did you put me in command?!" Even though West had said that John was second in command being field commander effectively put him in charge.

"For the reasons I said. You have the most experience fighting these things. As for Spike well, no offence but you don't exactly seem like the type who leads."

"That's because I'm not." Spike answered. He could take orders when it was necessary but give them? He just wasn't cut out for that.

"But I'm no military commander." John tired to protest.

"Neither am I." West replied. "And you've already shown that you have more knowledge of fighting tactics then any of us. That makes you the best choice."

"That's great." John said, resigned to his fate. "I've been promoted to 'last hope for the human race'."

"Can't get much higher of a rank then that." Spike remarked. John groaned and shook his head.

"Captain West!!" They turned and saw the communications officer running towards them. "We broadcasted our location like you said, and we've already gotten results." He stopped to catch his breath. "We have five confirmed units heading our way, with heavy weapons and air support."

"That's good news sergeant. Keep me informed of any developments." West said.

"Yes sir." The sergeant replied and ran back to his post.

"Things are starting to look up." Spike remarked.

"Slightly." West replied. "You said Skynet's command center was north, right?" Spike nodded. "Have a look at that." He said and pointed north. John and Spike looked and on the horizon they could see that black and dark gray clouds were beginning to gather.

"There's a storm coming." Spike said.

"In more ways then one." John remarked. In the distance they could hear the roar of engines. It was beginning.


	26. Build Up

Chapter 26: Build Up

"So you think they're coming to help us or kill us?" Spike asked as he watched the first ISSP ship touch down. It was reasonable to suspect that anyone who was scheduled to be evacuated from Earth would be pretty pissed of about being abandoned. And since it seemed to be their fault, [all right it _was_ their fault, _technically_.] it stood to reason that some of these guys would be very eager to put a bullet in their heads. The first ISSP unit to respond happened to be a second, larger heavy weapons team. One that, with several large transports and what looked like a squadron of fighters, looked prepared to fight a small war.

"Well they haven't blown anything up yet so I suppose they're coming to help." West answered. As other ships started to land around it the three of them walked towards the first ship.

"West, you'd better be right about this!!" A voice shouted. Someone climbed out of the first ship and started walking towards them. "We're set to get off this rock and then the shit hits the fan!!" As the person got closer they saw that the man was wearing a captains uniform and an angry look on his face.

"Nice to see you to Al." West responded, not reacting to the man's outbursts.

"You know this guy?" John asked.

"We used to be in the same SWAT team." West answered. "He got transferred to heavy weapons while I stayed with the regular SWAT team, and somehow we both managed to get assigned to this mudball. Spike, John meet Al Belkin."

"And everybody knows who you are, and what you've done." Al told them. "Do you know how many people were suggesting we blow you sons of bitches away?"

"I'd imagine quite a few." Spike responded, unsurprised.

"You got that right. They were just waiting for you to give away your location so they could start air strikes."

"So what made them change their minds?" John asked.

"I was able to convince them that the only reasons that you would be stupid enough to give your location after stranding us would be that you're suicidal, or that what you said have some truth to it. Now there are much, much easier ways of committing suicide then this, and with everything that's been going on lately we decided that you were probably telling the truth and were probably our best chance at getting off this rock."

"Glad to have you aboard Al." West said and shook Al's hand.

"So I suppose you've got some sort of master plan all set?" Al asked.

"Actually we're still working that out." West replied. "There wasn't much time to think ahead when I did this." Al scowled at the statement. "But I do know one thing that we can do. Spike, John, do you think the Bebop could get in touch with your friend that knows computers?"

"It shouldn't be that big of a problem." Spike answered. Of course it wouldn't be, Ed was on the ship.

"Good. If whoever it is can disable nuclear missiles then he should be able to get control of one of the satellites Skynet missed."

"And then what captain? Fight an army with what little you have here?" They turned and saw Vicious approaching them.

"There'll be others." West answered confidently. "Without the military they'll be all we have."

"And even if fighting with such a small force means certain death, you will do it anyway?" Vicious asked.

"It's better to go out fighting then be hunted down like rats." John sneered. Like the other he didn't like Vicious questioning their decisions.

"And in case you didn't hear martial law has been declared so whatever I say goes." West added.

"I heard." Vicious responded. "Quite an interesting way of handling things captain, but I believe you have forgotten one thing."

"What's that?" West sneered, not liking the fact Vicious was trying to lecture him. Spike caught the movement first but before he could do anything Vicious struck West across the face with his sword. West hit the ground and in response Spike, John, and Al drew their guns, pointing them at Vicious. They were about to empty their weapons when they heard West yelling.

"SON OF A BITCH!!!" The others looked down to see West, getting up. There was a red mark where he had been hit. His nose now had an odd shape [obviously broken] and was bleeding but he was getting up. The others knew that it wasn't possible. That sword had been able cut through Terminator armor and it should have sliced West's head like a melon. Looking back at Vicious they saw that he had was holding his Katana in a ready position, and that it was still in its scabbard. He had never even unsheathed it.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT!?!?" West demanded. Vicious calmly lowered his sword.

"I will help you fight Skynet, but do not presume that gives you authority to give me orders like you would your men. You also needed to be put in your place for your actions earlier." He turned and began to walk away. His judgment impaired by anger West started to go after him.

"Just what makes you think…!?!?" Was as far as West got when Vicious turned, unsheathed his sword, and had the point to his throat. Despite the danger West forced himself to remain calm. "You do that and you'll be dead before I hit the ground."

"Perhaps," Vicious admitted. "but by that time it will hardly matter to you." To underscore the point he applied pressure that was just short of puncturing the skin. "Allow me to clarify something for you captain. The only reason I am choosing to fight is because Skynet might interfere with my own plans in the future, so don't expect any type of loyalty from me." He took the sword away from West's throat and re-sheathed it. "You would do well to remember that." He again turned and started walking and this time West didn't follow.

"It's good to have loyal help isn't it?" John asked as he and the others walked up to West.

"If we didn't need him…" West snarled as he put his hand to his neck. It came away with a small drop of blood on it. It was nothing worse then a shaving cut and wasn't bleeding but that didn't matter to West. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch when this is over."

"You'll have to get in line for that." Spike remarked.

"That really doesn't surprise me." West said as he grabbed his broken nose. Taking a deep breath he jerked it back into alignment with a snap. "OW!" Even though it had hurt like hell West was able to breathe through his nose again, despite the blood. Trying to keep his mind off the pain he began giving orders. "Spike, John, contact your ship. Tell them what we're planning. Al, I want you to get two squads of your best and have them ready to move out, with the heaviest stuff they can carry. Spike and John will give you the coordinates of their ship. Once you've got them tell those squads to go there and defend that ship at all costs, we'll need it as a relay." He looked up at the still arriving ISSP craft. "I'm also going to want to meet with all the ISSP commanders once everyone has arrived. That includes you three." He added then started walking in the direction of the medical area.

On board the Bebop

After Captain West's declaration of martial law everyone on board knew that things were about to speed up, so anyone who wasn't needed elsewhere were gathered on the bridge. Well, to be precise all those who weren't needed elsewhere and those who could physically get there were on the bridge. Kyle had one fully functional arm when he landed on the Bebop, now that arm had a broken hand attached to it and he had a major concussion. In combination with his previous injuries the others had decided that Kyle was officially out of action and was relegated to the couch in the lounge. He had tried to protest but after they had threatened to lock him in the bathroom he opted to take the couch instead. Sure enough not long after West had made his announcement the Bebop started to receive a transmission.

"Hey Jet are you still there?" Spike's voice said over the radio.

"We're here." Jet answered. "And before you say anything Kyle called the Bebop a garbage scow when we were escaping Cyberdyne." Faye and Ed gave him curious looks but Jet wasn't about to elaborate. "Now how do I know I'm really talking to Spike?" Despite how furious he was about his own questioning Jet could see the validity of doing this.

"Your buddy Joe decided to doublecross us and is probably still tied up in the bathroom." Spike replied.

"I guess that means you're real." Jet said. "Got any good news?"

"Yeah, and a lot of it for once." Spike replied. "Looks like no one is stupid enough to listen to what the governments are saying anymore so they're coming here. West also said he'll be sending a couple of ISSP squads your way to protect the ship while you contact our hacker friend from way, way out there."

"Spike, wouldn't it just be easier to….?" Jet began.

"Jet, someone needs to stay behind to keep in contact with him." Spike said in a voice that told Jet that asking questions right now was not a good idea and he should go along with him.

"I guess we could find someone we can leave here." Jet finally answered, giving a shrug to Ed and Faye, who still had a look of confusion on their faces.

"That's good, in the meantime West wants our hacker to find any satellites Skynet doesn't have and try to get pictures of what's going on." Jet nodded to Ed, who started typing. "And since West wants as much air cover as he can get you guys might want to fly out here. Tell Doohan he'll have to fly the Swordfish out."

"Doohan already took the Swordfish out once." Jet answered. "He managed to shoot down three of those fighters by himself."

"Nice to see the old guy hasn't gotten rusty." Spike remarked.

"I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that." Jet replied. "Is there anything else you guys need from us?"

"Yes." John answered. "My rifle was destroyed and Spike's is empty. You'd better bring the rest of the rifles and fresh clips."

"All of them?" Jet questioned. "Isn't that a bit risky?"

"We don't really have a lot of options. We need every advantage we can get, and we're going to have to take some risks." To the best of their knowledge the rifles they had taken from Cyberdyne were the only working ones there were, and with the data on them wiped nobody else would be able to make them. On the other hand if one of the rifles was picked up by one of the syndicate controlled cops it wouldn't be hard to analyze it and begin production of new ones. Right now the syndicates having plasma guns was the lesser of two evils when compared to Skynet.

"Guess we can't afford to pull any punches." Jet replied. "We'll fly out there as soon as that help of yours arrives, and I don't think Arnold would mind staying here to look after things." Spike and John knew Arnold wouldn't, if Jet told him to stay he'd stay. Even if he had wanted to come they doubted any of their personal craft could handle his weight.

"Roger that Jet, we'll see you then." John said then broke the connection. "You have that navigational data I told you to record?" He asked the radio technician.

"Right here sir." The tech replied and handed him a small disk.

"Thanks." He said and turned to Spike. "Let's go find Al, he's going to need this."

"So who's going to get the rifles once they get here?" Spike asked as they headed towards Al's group of ships. After looking around to make sure no one was paying attention John answered.

"West's team is our best bet. He has something personal to lose if we fail, and it looks like he has pretty good control of his men."

"One of his men could be a syndicate plant." Spike told him.

"I know that." John responded. "West could be a syndicate plant to. Anyone here except you and me could be an undercover member of the syndicates. At least with Vicious we know where his loyalties are, everyone else…" He just shrugged.

"You pay your money and you take your chances." Spike said. John nodded in agreement. As they approached the first group of ships Al came out to meet them.

"Got the teams briefed and ready to go, just like you wanted. All you need to do is give them the word."

"Here's the word." John said, handing Al the disk. "That'll tell them were to go. Once they get there they set up a perimeter and guard that ship until they hear from us." Al nodded.

"JACKSON!!" He shouted at someone. From behind him a young man in a pilots uniform ran up to them and saluted.

"Sir!" Jackson responded with a salute. Al held out the disk.

"This will tell you where to go. When you get there the captain of that ship is in charge so you do what he says. Understand?"

"Yes sir!" Jackson said and took the disk.

"When you talk to them ask Jet if he's been attacked by any mutant lobsters lately. That'll tell him you're the good guys." Spike told him.

"Can you remember that Jackson?" Jackson nodded "Then move out!" Al ordered. Jackson turned and headed for one of the transport ships. "West radioed that all the ISSP commanders go to his headquarters for briefing. That means us to." As the three of them started to go back to the building West had designated headquarters they failed to see someone approach Jackson as he started to walk into his transport. After talking for a moment both entered the transport and a minute later it took off, along with a second transport and three ISSP fighters for escort.

"So what do you think West is planning?" Al asked.

"Don't know." John answered. "It depends on what the satellites tell us Skynet is doing."

At that moment Skynet was doing quite a bit. Knowing that attack from human forces in the command center was now immanent Skynet knew it needed to defend itself at all costs. Construction of the base defense project was complete and now it only needed to be activated. That one unit alone would not be able defend the complex so Skynet was diverting forces from everywhere. All units that were in the field were being recalled to defend Cheyenne Mountain, even the ones guarding the production facility were ordered away. If the production facility was destroyed Skynet could always construct another, but if the command center fell that would be the end of him. All the Hunter Killer fighters would fly twenty-four hour patrols until the situation was resolved. His experiment was almost structurally complete but it would take several more hours to prepare it for interface. Skynet did have a large ground force but it lacked the heavy weapons the humans did, and the latest satellite images showed a large number of not only ISSP but also civilian vehicles converging on the abandoned town Skynet had tried to destroy. If nuclear weapons were still available he would have been able to wipe out both threats in an instant. Instead he was forced to fight the humans in a conventional battle, all because of Radical Edward. If not for that child things would be very different right now, Skynet was sure of it. He wanted to send a large attack force after the Bebop and kill all aboard but that was no longer an option. He was forced to watch as the Bebop remained untouched and as several ISSP ships made their way towards it.

On board the Bebop

"So how long until they get here?" Kyle asked over the ship's radio.

"Spike didn't say. They shouldn't be long though." Jet responded from the hangar, where he and the others were getting ready to leave. "Did you give them the pictures they wanted?" Kyle was currently on the bridge with Ed, having been chosen to 'relay' the information Ed downloaded. It would be nothing more then just talking to the ISSP forces and pretending to contact the 'mysterious' hacker they had contact with. In reality Ed would be doing all the work and all Kyle had to do was make sure they didn't figure out she was there. It wasn't the most glamorous of jobs but it beat lying on the couch for the duration. It was kind of funny since he had almost needed to be carried up to the bridge and once he was there he wasn't moving again until this thing was over.

"Just sent them." Kyle answered.

"And?" Jet prompted.

"It's not looking too good. Looks like Skynet is calling in everything it has. I can't even count how many there are." Ed had concentrated on Skynet's two main facilities to show what kind of movement Skynet was up to. So far all the forces seemed to be heading for and concentrating on setting up a defense around the command center. There was also a strange looking structure near the command center but none of them could figure out what it was. They had made note of it when they had sent the pictures to West and hoped they could figure out what it was.

"Well remember, it's not just us against them anymore." Jet reminded him. Kyle cleared his throat nervously. Out of curiosity he had told Ed to show him the town where the ISSP were gathering, and while they looked strong they were also sorely outnumbered by Skynet's forces. They odd thing was that along with the ISSP ships he saw quite a few land vehicles headed their way. At first he thought it was another attack by Skynet but all the vehicles were being driven by humans. Kyle believed they were probably civilians trying to find safety in all the chaos that was going on. He just hoped they wouldn't get in the way. He was about to tell Jet about the civilian convoy when the radar in front of him beeped.

"I've got something." He said and concentrated on the screen.

"Friend or foe?" Jet asked. Kyle didn't answer as he waited for the computer to identify the craft. He sighed with relief when it came up with the results.

"We've got two ISSP troop carriers, one supply ship and three fighters inbound." Kyle reported.

"Have they tried contacting us?" Jet asked, some suspicion still in his voice. Kyle admitted that while it was possible for Skynet to gain access to such craft or even build them he thought it highly unlikely that the supercomputer would actually use them like this. It would be much easier just to use a regular attack force then to go through all the trouble of trying to fool them. In front of him a light was flashing, indicating that someone was trying to radio them.

"They've just started. You want me to patch it down to you guys?"

"Go ahead." Jet responded. After Kyle connected them Jet spoke to whoever was out there. "This is Jet Black, captain of the Bebop. Who am I talking to?"

"This is Corporal Kevin Jackson eighth ISSP unit Earth sector." A voice responded.

"You got any proof of that?" Jet asked. After everything they had been through so far he wasn't about to start taking chances.

"Uh, yes sir. I was given a pass code, I think. I don't know what this means but I was told to ask you if you've been attacked by any mutant lobsters lately." The only response he heard was silence. "Did I get that right sir?" Jackson asked.

"Yeah you got it right." Jet finally grumbled into the radio. "I guess that means you're on our side." There was another grumble of irritation before he spoke. "All right corporal this is how we're going to do things. You guys do what you need to in order to protect this ship but you are not, I repeat, _NOT_ to enter the ship itself. Skynet is going to attack from the outside and that's where I need everyone. You can land on deck if you have to after we leave but you don't land inside the ship. After I go Kyle Reese is going to be in charge so you do whatever you say. Got that!?" Whoever Jackson was he sounded like a rookie, even greener the John or Kyle. Jet had dealt with his fair share of rookies back when he was on the force and knew how Jackson would react.

"Affirmative sir!" Jackson responded.

"Good. We'll leave in a few minutes, after that, Kyle's in charge."

"Understood sir." Jackson answered. Jet listened as Kyle cut the feed and went back to inter-ship communication.

"A mutant lobster?" Kyle asked the second contact with Jackson was broken.

"Don't ask." Was Jet's answer.

"Brother. A talking computer, a data dog, hallucinogenic mushrooms, aliens, killer robots and now a mutant lobster? You people certainly lead interesting lives."

"Well it's not exactly a picnic." Jet paused as he realized something. "HEY! How did you find out about the mushrooms!?"

"Ed told me." Kyle answered. "It's awful boring sitting around doing nothing so I asked Ed to tell me what kind of bounty hunts you guys had. I've got to tell you, you guys could make a fortune if you sold this stuff. It's like listening to a sci-fi series."

"We'll keep our bounty hunts private thank you." Jet growled. "That goes for you to Ed!" He warned before snapping off the radio. That taken care of he walked over to Arnold, who was finishing rearming the Red Tail.

"Everything is ready." Arnold said as he locked the final missile into position.

"Then we'll leave immediately." Jet responded. "But before we do I'm going to give you your own assignment for while we're gone." Recognizing the importance of what Jet was saying Arnold focused all of his attention on him. "Spike and John wanted everyone with them to think Ed isn't on this ship, and they wouldn't do that without good reason. We've got to keep them from getting too curious and finding out anything they shouldn't. Now I've been able to close off every entry point that leads inside the Bebop except the bridge and here. Kyle can take care of anyone who tried to come through the bridge windows, but you're going to have to guard the hangar. Except for us stop anyone who's trying to get inside the ship. Use this if you have to." He handed Arnold Spike's Jerico pistol. Arnold took the gun, made sure a round was chambered and flicked the safety off before putting it in the small of his back. Arnold's Desert Eagle had been destroyed during his capture and Jet needed to be sure he could protect the ship.

"No one shall be allowed in." Arnold stated. That was all Jet needed to hear.

"Then there's no reason for us to stick around." Jet said as he walked over to the Hammerhead. "You two ready?"

"For something like this? No." Faye responded. "But lets get going anyway."

"They're not going to wait for us forever." Doohan added as he started up the Swordfish.

"Then let's get moving." Jet said as he climbed into the Hammerhead. A few seconds later Kyle watched them take off and fly into the distance. He was also able to visually see the ISSP craft approaching.

"Ok, you guys you can land on the deck if you have to but remember what the boss said. No one comes inside unless I tell them to." Kyle told them over the radio.

"Affirmative Bebop." Jackson replied. Satisfied that they understood Kyle shut off the radio and turned to Ed.

"So Ed. Tell me more about this mutant lobster." Ed smiled at the question and eagerly began to talk.

While Ed was telling Kyle her version of what had happened with the mutated lobster Jackson was issuing orders to his group.

"We do this just like we planned. The sky-jocks will patrol a perimeter around the ship at ten miles. If they see anything weird they warn us and we get ready to blow some tin cans into scrap. We'll put most of the men and weapons transport on the ground so they can get fresh rockets quickly, remember to stay in groups of at least three. We'll also put a few men on the deck to give us a better firing position, I don't think they'll mind that."

"I suggest that men from this ship be placed on theirs." An emotionless voice said from behind him. Jackson involuntarily shuddered at the sound of it. When the strange man with the white hair and almost dead looking eyes had told Jackson that he was a member of the Bebop crew and needed to get back to the ship the rookie had seen no real reason to doubt him. He had been fighting alongside the ISSP during the televised attack and he seemed to fit with the strange crowd that John and Spike seemed to be a part of. However there was something about him that wasn't right. Showing just how green Jackson was he had ignored that feeling and not only didn't recognize Vicious but allowed him to come along without notifying his superiors.

"You're going to have to tell them you're back." Jackson told him.

"No need." Vicious responded. "They know I am coming and are expecting me." Jackson shrugged, reasoning that if the people on the ship didn't know about their friend coming they would have said something. He landed the transport he was flying on the Bebop's deck and lowered the ramp. Several men, Vicious included, got off the ship. While the ISSP officers began to set up firing positions Vicious headed straight for the hangar opening. Getting to this rustbucket of a ship had been easier then even he had expected. The stupid rookie had not bothered asking questions when he requested a ride back and had believed every one of his lies. Now that he was here he was going to find out just what was going on. He had expected hostility when dealing with Spike's group but they seemed bound and determined to keep him away from their ship. He knew there was a specific reason for this and if they were going through that much trouble to keep him away it must be something important. He was able to get two steps inside the hangar before he heard something.

"Stop." It was said in an almost neutral tone but there was no question it was a command. Vicious also recognized the voice and knew just who, or rather what, had just said it. Sure enough his path was immediately blocked by a Terminator.

Arnold had heard a craft land on the deck outside and he was able to hear the footsteps of the humans getting off the craft. Most of them were walking away from the hangar but one was heading right for it. Arnold moved to intercept the intruder and when he entered the hangar Arnold was able to identify who it was. Vicious, an enforcer for the Red Dragon syndicate and their contact from within the organization. He also knew that even though Vicious was helping the Bebop crew they regarded him as an enemy, not a true ally. He ordered Vicious to stop and blocked his path so he could not go any deeper into the ship.

"You are not allowed in here." Arnold told Vicious. Vicious gave no outward signs of fear or anger, nor did his heart rate or respiration change.

"Well it seems Spike was able to find one of you mechanical freaks that Skynet somehow missed." He said in a voice that was as emotionless as Arnold's. "I'd never thought he would be working with one." Arnold did not respond and didn't move. Vicious narrowed his eyes. He had forgotten how difficult it was to deal with one of these things, but he had remembered something else about them. Something very important. "Do you know who I am?" He asked the robot.

"Yes." The Terminator replied.

"Then stand aside. I have business to conduct with those who are still on this ship."

"No." Arnold replied. Vicious was almost taken aback by this thing's apparently brazen attitude. All Terminators were supposed to obey the highest ranking Red Dragon operatives, but this one was defying him.

"I am your superior, and you will do as I command." Vicious said in a tone that would have made almost anybody else move aside because of pure fright. Arnold's face remained impassive and he made no motion to move out of Vicious' way.

"You are not my superior and I do not take orders from you." Arnold said, his voice still deadpan. Now Vicious' face showed anger. First that ISSP captain had dared to defy him and now a machine was doing the same. Vicious didn't know why this Terminator was acting like he did, but if it was trying to stop him from getting inside he was not the only secret this ship was hiding. Deciding that he had heard enough of the machine's back talk Vicious drew his sword and started to swing when an iron grip clamped down on the wrist that was holding the weapon. In a flash of speed that surprised even Vicious Arnold had caught his wrist mid-swing and stopped it. Vicious couldn't have known that Arnold had seen the footage of him fighting and how his sword was able to pierce T-800 armor. Arnold had known about the danger the second he had identified Vicious had had been watching the human's movements very carefully for any motion to draw the weapon. He had read Vicious correctly and was able to block the blow before it connected.

Vicious had little time to assess the situation as the grip on his wrist tightened and forced him to drop his sword. Once the weapon was dropped Arnold shoved Vicious to the floor. Vicious was up almost immediately but he found he was too slow and that Arnold was now holding his sword. He wondered if the machine was going to use the weapon when it grabbed both ends of the weapon and began to try and bend it. As Vicious watched the sword began to warp under the pressure Arnold was putting on it. The sword was made of the hardest metal man had ever encountered, one of alien origin and seemed to be indestructible. Arnold's endoskeleton was made of the same metal but he also possessed the most advanced hydraulics system known as well as knowledge on where to apply pressure in order to break the sword. The blade bent under the unrelenting pressure and with almost no warning broke with a snap that sounded like a rifle shot. Arnold dropped the two sword pieces and looked into the cold glare Vicious was giving him. Vicious began to shift his weight in order to dash past Arnold and the machine's response was to reach behind his back and draw out a pistol, which caused Vicious to stop. Not even he could avoid being shot at this range, and if Arnold fired Vicious would be dead before he would be able to hear the crack of the bullet.

"Get out." Arnold ordered. Vicious glared coldly at the Terminator for a moment before a humorless smile crept across his face.

"I don't believe Spike would have given you orders to kill someone in cold blood, not even me." He knew that because of two reasons. Spike still had a conscience when it came to killing people, but more importantly he wouldn't allow anyone but himself to kill Vicious. He was proven right when Arnold lowered the gun.

"You are correct. I cannot kill you." The machine stated. Vicious' grin widened slightly in victory.

CRACK CRACK

That grin of victory vanished into grimace of agony as Vicious clenched his teeth to keep from yelling in pain. Both his knees felt like they were on fire and he found himself unable to stand. When he hit the floor he instinctively grabbed his knees and both hands came away bloody. The damned machine had shot him in both knees without warning. Looking up at the machine with a glare of hatred he saw it calmly put his gun back.

"You'll live." Arnold told him. To Vicious it sounded like the machine almost regretted the fact that he couldn't kill him. Arnold picked up the two halves of the broken sword then turned and walked away. Vicious let out a growl of anger. He couldn't lay here helpless but his pride wouldn't allow him to crawl away in front of an enemy, even if he wasn't capable of walking. Before he could think of what he should do heavy footsteps were coming in his direction. The machine had come back and was now holding a long metal pipe. Vicious sneered at the robot, it seemed just because he wasn't able to kill him didn't mean that he couldn't beat Vicious to within an inch of his life. Instead of hitting him the machine grabbed Vicious by the back of his shirt and lifted him up into a sitting position. Then the machine actually bent the pipe around him and used it to pin his arms down, then twisted both ends together almost forming a knot! Remaining silent Arnold then dragged the still bleeding Vicious out of the hanger and back to the transport he came off of. He then roughly threw Vicious into the copilot's seat, much to the surprise of the pilot.

"Medic!" Jackson yelled and one of the ISSP officers started running towards the transport.

"He stays here." Arnold told Jackson who took one look at Vicious' shot out knees and the emotionless giant of a man who had just done it then swallowed nervously and nodded. Arnold turned and left without another word. Jackson turned to ask Vicious if he was all right but one look at his face made him wonder who he should be more afraid of, the big guy or the shot one.

When Arnold stepped back into the hangar the communicator in his pocket started beeping. He took it out and turned it on.

"Arnold I just heard gunfire coming from down there. What's going on?" Kyle asked.

"Someone was trying to enter the ship and I stopped him." Arnold answered.

"Who was it?" Kyle asked.

"Vicious." Arnold responded. Kyle was silent for a few minutes.

"Damn. I guess we should be glad you did shoot him. Is he going to try and come back?"

"No. I made sure he won't."

"Good, a problem like that is the last thing we need right now." Kyle broke the connection and up in the bridge he made sure his gun was ready and within easy reach.

Back in the hangar Arnold put his communicator back in his pocket as Miles and Ein walked over.

"Man I don't even want to think what would have happened if you weren't on our side. Lucky for us we have you around." Miles said. Ein barked in agreement, making both Miles and Arnold look down at him. Neither of them had expected Ein to ever act towards Arnold in a positive way. Guess that proved anything was possible.

Back at what was quickly becoming the main base for human forces most of the Earth's ISSP units had arrived and their leaders gathered in the main building. None were very happy to be there but they weren't trying to kill anyone either.

"The situation isn't good." West stated as he displayed a printout of the satellite pictures on a barely functioning projector they had managed to find in one of the office buildings. "These were taken no more then ten minutes ago, and as you can see Skynet is expecting an attack. We've spotted almost two thousand T-800s, or Terminator units, and over a hundred of what John refers to as T-70s."

"What's a T-70?" One of the unit commanders asked.

"In layman's terms they're eight foot tall giant robots with an aircraft cannon for an arm." John said. There was a murmur from the gathered commanders.

"And just how are we supposed to fight those things?" Another commander asked. "You guys were barely able to handle the little ones, and you were using rockets."

"Why do we have to fight at all?" A third commander asked. "Everyone saw you on TV, and now that they know they won't get vaporized if they get too close they can send the military in."

"Yeah." The first commander agreed. "Let them bomb these tin cans back to the stone age. Why should we put out butts on the line when we don't have to?" Several other commanders voiced their agreement. "I heard a rumor on the way here that there's suppose to be a response to you declaring marshal law."

"I wouldn't bet on that." Spike remarked. "They were will willing to leave helpless civilians behind you can bet leaving a bunch of dumb grunts behind isn't going to be that hard for them." Every member of ISSP except for West and Al gave Spike an angry glare, which he ignored.

"Speaking of civilians." Al spoke up. "We're keeping them to one specific section of town but things are starting to get weird."

"Weird?" West asked. He was doubtful that after everything else that had happened what Al had to say would fit into the category of weird.

"Some of these civvies are just trying to find a safe place but most of them, they're loaded for bear. We had to reroute a sixteen wheeler that came in, the damn thing was loaded with missiles and explosives. And one of them claimed to know John."

"Wait a minute." John interrupted. "Somebody said they knew me?"

"Yeah some older guy." Al said.

"With his arm bandaged?" John asked. Al looked surprised but he nodded. "Did he say his name was Matt?"

"Yeah he did. You do know him?"

"Yes I do know him you idiot!!" John shouted. "Why weren't we told earlier!?!"

"I thought he was just a bum that saw you on TV and thought he was trying something." Al responded.

"That 'bum' helped us hold off the second attack on the town and those rockets you saw were probably his." John said. "Go find him and bring him here, we need all the help we can get!" He made sure to put emphasis on the last phrase and Al moved to comply. When they had added everything up they had a little less then five hundred troops. They might have had superior firepower but Skynet would be able to overwhelm them by sheer numbers. As Al left the officer working the radio came in.

"Please tell me you have good news." West said.

"Afraid not sir. There's just been an announcement about our situation. The military has been authorized to come to Earth for the sole purpose of containment. Their orders are to stop anything going to or coming from Earth. They've also authorized the use of nuclear weapons to use against anything that can be a danger to any other planet."

"So much for the calvary." Spike grumbled.

"Is there anything else?" West asked.

"No sir." The radio officer answered.

"Dismissed." The radio operator left and before West could say anything the first ISSP commander spoke up.

"If we can talk to them when they get here…" He began.

"That won't work." West interrupted. "They won't listen to a thing we say, they'll be ordered not to. Like it or not gentlemen, we're on our own."

"Not quite on your own." A new voice said. Al entered the room with Matt following behind him. The ISSP commanders kept a wary eye on Matt. All of their experience with Earth people was limited to encountering them while chasing a fugitive, and it had never been friendly. Matt was able to sense the hostility and glared at the commanders. "Although you should count yourselves lucky. If it wasn't for John helping us before we would have kept as far away from you as possible." Several ISSP commanders started to grumble complaints.

"We'll be glad to accept any help you can offer." West said, trying to keep things from getting out of hand. "Al said something about a truck you had being loaded with rockets."

"That's mine all right." Matt said. "We got plenty more where they come from, and the people to use them. We might not matter much to any of you," He said with another glare at the ISSP commanders. "but we're not going to let a bunch of overgrown wind up toys take over our home."

"We're glad to have you aboard." West told him. "Just one question. How were you able to get your hands on that level of firepower so quickly?"

"Everybody knows that Earth people are the best scroungers in the solar system." Matt replied with a grin. There was a small laugh from the group.

"If that's all I'd like to get back to the business at hand. As I was telling everyone before you got here we've got a lot to do if we're going to beat this thing. Skynet is focusing mainly on defending its command center so our objective is two fold. One, we need to destroy as much of Skynet's forces as we can to at least keep it from attacking any other human settlements. Two, we need to get inside the command center and destroy Skynet itself."

"Hold it." The third ISSP commander interrupted. "You're telling us that we're supposed to fight our way through all of that," He motioned to the satellite picture. "And then get inside the command center where will have to fight who knows what? That's suicide."

"You're right." West answered. "That's why we're going to do it this way. The majority of our forces will engage Skynet's. While the defense force is occupied a small group armed with energy rifles provided by Spike and John will attempt to get inside the command center and blow it up. John, Spike and myself are going to be part of the team and I've handpicked the rest from my own squad. I trust there are no complaints about that?" There were none. Nobody was going to volunteer anyone for a one way mission that would probably fail. "In that case we should start to consider out battle plan." Over the next half-hour a basic plan was devised, units were given sectors to attack and methods for fighting the machines was explained. John and Spike explained things as best they could but there was one question they couldn't answer.

"What's that thing?" One of the ISSP commanders asked and pointed at an odd looking structure that was near the command center.

"We don't know." John answered. "Our best guess is that it's either a communication or gun platform. We'll have to deal with it once we get there."

"Are there any other questions?" West asked. There were none. "I know not all of you agree with this but it's either this or wait for Skynet to kill us. You all have your orders. Get you units ready to move out as soon as I give the order. Good luck and lets kick some Terminator ass." The other commands stood and left, each keeping their thoughts to themselves.

"You know Spike I'm kind of surprised that you'd want to be part of the command center team. I would have thought you would have wanted to provide air cover in the Swordfish." John said as the three of them walked out of the building.

"If you're going to go you might as well go out in a blaze of glory." Spike responded with a shrug.

"Now there's a surprise. Spike wanting to put himself in the most dangerous situation possible." A familiar voice said.

"Jet. When did you get here?" John asked.

"A while ago." Jet answered. "West radioed us on our way here and told us what you guys were planning. It sounds crazy but we couldn't think of anything else so here we are."

"So where's Faye and Doohan?" Spike asked.

"Faye is making sure no one touches the Red Tail without her permission, and Doohan is giving the squad West selected instructions on how to operate the plasma rifles. That reminds me…" He handed West and John a loaded plasma rifle and gave Spike and West a second clip. "They manage to recharge the clips you guys had?"

"No problem." John answered. "I should count myself lucky that the clip wasn't damaged when I shattered the gun."

"So why are you coming along Jet?" Spike asked. "The Hammerhead isn't built for fighting."

"After the improvements Doohan gave it you'd be surprised." Jet answered. After giving West a quick lesson on how to use the plasma rifle they seemed to be ready.

"Is there anything we're forgetting?" West asked.

"You're damn right there's something you're forgetting!!" A woman shouted. The three of them turned around and saw Mary storming towards them. "What's the big idea of trying to leave without us!?" She demanded.

"Mary this isn't like last time. We can't guarantee your protection." West told her.

"I'm not going to miss the biggest story in human history just because you think I can't look after myself!" Mary shot back. "You can either take us with you or we'll follow you in our ship." She threatened.

"Willing to die for her work. A sign of a true professional." Spike remarked.

"People should see what's about to happen." John added. West looked from Spike to John, then over to Jet, who just shrugged.

"Fine." He relented, knowing they didn't have time for this. "Take your cameraman and go find Captain Belkin. Tell him I gave you permission to go with us. If you miss your ride you're stuck here. Got it?" His question was wasted as Mary was already running to get her cameraman. "Guess so." He turned to the others. "Well I guess this is it. I hope we're able to talk about this when it's all over but …."

"Don't." Jet interrupted. "You'll just jinx it by saying that. Let's just go and let the chips fall were they may." The others decided that was good enough and they spilt up, Jet headed towards the Hammerhead while Spike, John and West headed towards the rest of the command center assault team. After getting last minute orders they boarded a transport. The transport lifted off and headed in the direction of Cheyenne Mountain. It was soon joined by dozens of others, in addition to a convoy that followed them on the ground.

On the Bebop Kyle watched them leave through the satellite connection Ed had set up.

"Well they're going." He said as he watched the stream of vehicles leave the town. He had also heard the decision to blockade Earth and was sure no help was coming. With the civilians the humans now had a substantially larger force then before and compared to Skynet they did have superior firepower, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that it wouldn't be enough.

"Don't worry. Ed has secret weapon." Ed declared with the confidence that came with youth, …or was it insanity? Kyle found himself hoping that Ed wasn't kidding. They needed every trick they could get their hands on if they were going to win this.

At the same time Skynet was also watching the convoy of humans head in his direction through a different satellite. There were no reinforcements that could intercept the humans before they got to the command center so the forces that had already arrived dug in and waited for the attack. Skynet was unable to calculate which side would be victorious when the battle was over but he was determined to kill as many of the filthy humans as possible.

The storm system West had noticed before continued to travel north, headed for the same destination as the humans were. There was no better way to symbolize what was about to happen.


	27. Assault

Chapter 27: Assault

It was quiet, and that was surprising. They were flying off to a battle the likes of which mankind had never seen yet everyone in the troop carrier was quiet. When he thought about it West decided it made sense, eleven men had been asked to become the last hope for the human race. What do you say about something like that? He knew the eight men he selected would answer that they would be proud to do so, even it meant death. John would probably say the same thing but Spike, he was a different matter. To West he seemed like the type of person who thought that he owed nothing to no one. The type of person who usually made grade A assholes. From what West had seen that wasn't really the case. Spike probably wouldn't volunteer for something like this but if he had his reasons, and he did, he would stick to it until the end. And that's probably what it would come down to.

"Sir. We're approaching the drop off point." The pilot of the craft reported, snapping West out of his thoughts.

"Any hostile contact?" West asked.

"We've got a couple of airborne blips on the radar, most likely fighters."

"Are they moving towards us?"

"Negative."

"What about on the ground?"

"No contact from any ground units reported."

"How long until we reach the drop point?"

"Five minutes sir." West nodded in acknowledgment and faced his squad.

"Regardless of what happens, all of you have proven yourselves just by accepting this. I couldn't ask for a better group to go into battle with."

"Yeah. Maybe they'll put up a statue of us after we're blown to smithereens." One of the squad said with a nervous edge to his voice. All of them seemed nervous to one degree or another. Everyone except for Spike. He sat with a look of utter calm on his face, seemingly not aware of what they were about to throw themselves headlong into.

"Whatever happens, happens." Spike said with a shrug when he noticed all eyes were on him. Spike was accepting whatever fate had in store for him but still had all of his focus on the job ahead. West could have used a platoon of people like that right now, they sure would come in handy. Wishful thinking, he might as well as wished for a tank division while he was at it, but he still wouldn't get one. Right now they had a job to do and he had to keep his mind in reality. To show him just how right he was the transport shuddered and they felt it descending.

"Remember the plan!" West shouted as the craft touched down. "Stick together and conserve your ammunition. The main force should take care of most of the opposition but keep your eyes open and make your shots count!! We'll need every bit of firepower we have once we get inside the mountain!"

[_If_ they got inside the mountain.] Was what West really meant. The plan they had devised was for the main force to engage Skynet's forces while the eleven of them somehow try to sneak through all the chaos around them and then penetrate the command center. If by some miracle of God they managed to pull all that off they then had to fight their way through who knows what kind of internal defenses Skynet had managed to set up to the nuclear reactors that powered the facility. Once they got that far all they had to do was shut down the reactors and Skynet would cease to function. Simple really.

{More like suicide.} West thought as the ramp of the craft began to lower. "LETS MOVE!!" He shouted and ran down the ramp. Once the squad was off the transport they saw they waited while other craft flew above them and vehicles passed them on the ground.

"Give em hell!!" Someone shouted from one of the trucks. This was the part of the plan West hated, having to send all these brave people ahead just to be a diversion. He didn't have long to dwell on that as his ear radio squawked to life.

"Sir!! Scouts report contact with enemy ground units!! Enemy fighters inbound on an attack vector!!"

"Deploy our ground units and have our fighters engage theirs!" West ordered. Ahead of them they heard explosions and fighters roared by overhead. "This is it. Check you radios and prepare to move out. John, from here on out you're in charge." West ordered. Each member of the squad had an ear radio about the size of a large hearing aid so they could keep in contact with each other and the rest of the human force without needing their hands to talk. After making sure that the radios were in working order they headed towards the newly formed battlefield.

ISSP landing sight

"All right you heard the captain! Let's go kick some robot ass!" Al Belkin shouted as his squad rushed off of their transport. After the combat troops got off two other figures followed. Mary Somers and her cameraman came down the ramp and had only set one foot off it when Al started barking orders. "You two!! Don't go thinking you can wander off wherever you like. You stick with us no matter what. If I tell you to move you _**will**_ do exactly what I say otherwise I'll smash that camera and have both of you detained!! Got that?!" After getting a nod out of both of them Al turned back to giving orders to his squad.

"The things I have to put up with to get a story." Mary said under her breath. In addition to constantly barking orders Al had insisted that both Mary and the cameraman wear helmets and armored vests. Mary understood the concern for their safety but the only spare vests they had weren't made for women and it was damned uncomfortable. Then there was the fact the best fitting helmet they could find was two sizes too large and she looked more then a little goofy in it. "Are we ready?" She asked into her mike, deciding a little indignity was a small price to pay for achieving journalism history.

"Whenever you are Mary." Her technician answered. "Sound and picture are coming in loud and clear. Just give the word." Despite the distance that separated Mary from her ship she was still able to give a clear picture from the battlefield. She nodded into the camera and the technician went to work. Using the same frequency given to him earlier by his new best friend Ed he again broke into the majority of information outlets. Across the solar system TVs and computers were again treated to the pirate broadcast. Knowing that every time the signal had taken over something more and more interesting had happened people stopped what they were doing to watch, eager to see what would happen this time. Well, almost everyone. At each of the major TV stations those in charge of broadcasting let out a collective groan. Wasn't there proof somewhere that showed _they_ were the ones who decided what got put on the air and what didn't?

"This is Mary Somers live again from Earth for what could be the last time." She had confidence in the ISSP and Captain West's plan but this kind of talk made for greater dramatic effect. To help her build on that an explosion ripped through the background, closer to them then the rest. She flinched and grabbed onto her helmet. "Behind me a combined force of ISSP Earth forces and civilians willing to defend their homes have launched an all out attack on the main base of the supercomputer Skynet. With no help expected from any of the planetary governments it has fallen upon these brave individuals to try and stop the machine that has declared war on the human race."

Government bunker: Mars

This was the second emergency meeting that had been called in the last twenty-four hours and needless to say no one was happy to be there. The problem was thought to have been solved at the last meeting, then those two damned cops had messed everything up. First they had fought against Skynet's forces and won, proving that it could be beaten. Then they had blabbed to the whole solar system that there was still no government involvement even though the atomic weapons Skynet possessed had been destroyed. If they had just kept there mouths shut they could have just quietly wrote Earth off, shut down the astral gate and that would have been the end of it. Even if Skynet had managed to send ships into space they would be dealt with long before they became a threat, even before the civilian population had become aware of them. Now they looked, as one newspaper put it, 'incompetent jackasses at best, cold blooded murderers at worst', both not really what an elected official wanted to be viewed as.

"Whether government officials are too scared or have no regard for the people residing on this planet there message has been made loud and clear, 'You are on your own'." Mary continued, she almost seemed to be mocking them.

"Turn it off." The president of Mars said. He had heard more then enough. Mary's broadcast winked off the screens of the gathered group. All those who had been assembled before were there again, with the noticeable absence of Robert Connor. It was not a great loss. The last thing any of this group wanted to hear was 'I told you so' and he probably wouldn't have come even if he had been ordered to. "Gentlemen, you are all aware of the latest developments. The question that lies in front of us is how are we going to deal with them?"

"Deniability is no longer an option." The Red Dragon representative said. "While it is still only their word against ours the lack of a nuclear response from Skynet will have greater sway over public opinion then anything we can say."

"We could say that Skynet is holding back. Showing it doesn't want all out war." One of the ISSP chiefs suggested.

"Impossible." The chief of ISSP's Mars branch said. "Skynet already showed its willingness to use nuclear weapons against something that isn't even a direct threat to it. Now all of the sudden it has a change of heart and decides that it doesn't want to use them on a direct threat that it knows is coming? A threat that could conceivably defeat it if those weapons aren't used? The public isn't _that _stupid."

"So we can't say this information was never sent to us." The president of Mars continued. "What about communication mistakes? That the message didn't get to us in time, or got lost in back channels?"

"Unlikely." The general stated. "He would have broadcast information that important through the highest priority channels. A message like that gets taken right to the top, no stops along the way."

"And what if it was held up on purpose?" The Red Dragon representative asked.

"What do you mean?" The president asked.

"Well let's say that the message wasn't brought to our attention because someone had a personal stake in this matter. One that would like to see this matter swing in their favor."

"You're referring to Robert Connor I assume?" The general asked. The Red Dragon representative shook his head.

"Unfortunately no. Believe me I would like nothing more then to see Connor strung out for something like this we can't use him. Though his nephew is involved he has voiced, very publicly I might add, that help should be sent to Earth, no matter the risks. To claim he was lying the whole time would not be believable enough. What we need," He started with his shark like grin. "is someone that is Connor's opposite. Someone who has been in conflict with him the entire time."

"Someone who is well known for butting heads with Connor. Someone who would do almost anything to take him down a notch. Even if it meant getting him through his family and the deaths of countless civilians and stranded ISSP personal." The general agreed.

"Someone who was blinded by his confrontations with Connor enough to neglect his duty, even if it was for one instant." The president said. They had played this game before. In politics one had to very good at shifting the blame and making someone else take one for the team. Even if that person wasn't willing to. Everyone's gaze shifted to the Mars ISSP chief, who began to look around nervously.

"I…" He started to say but the Red Dragon representative interrupted.

"You are known to have a number of confrontations with Robert Connor. Some of them have even been known to make headlines. Because of his 'inability' to fall in line you saw him as insubordinate, even with all his accomplishments. One might even go as far that there were certain instances where you didn't want him to succeed. Criminals caught and contraband intercepted that you seemed less then happy about. Such an attitude would arouse suspicion that you were in league with these criminals."

"I'm far from the only one." The chief growled.

"What? Me?" The Red Dragon representative said with mock surprise. "I merely represent a business organization. I do not ask questions about what they do." He said with an arrogant smirk. "Because Connor was such a thorn in your side of your illegal activities you wanted to strike back. You couldn't strike back directly; it would be obvious who did it, whether it was at Connor himself or his family. But," He paused for dramatic flare. "once you heard that Connor had a personal connection to the current crisis, his nephew, you saw an opportunity to get back at him. By not telling us about the message from Earth you would have condemned John Connor to death, leaving his uncle powerless to stop it. The civilians," He gave a snort of mock laughter. "they're only Earth people, no big loss. And the ISSP units that would be stranded, well. I guess it's their own fault for fighting alongside Connor and his associates, isn't it? Only through the unforeseen actions of a quick-thinking and dedicated ISSP captain, and the luck of having a reporter nearby, did this message finally reach the proper people." He gave the chief a hard stare. "Because revenge clouded your judgment you caused countless deaths that could have been prevented."

"People aren't going to believe that!" The chief said through clenched teeth. "It's too far fetched."

"On the contrary." The Red Dragon representative said with a grin. "Once the details are ironed out a little bit this story will be very believable. There's just one thing missing." He didn't elaborate and turned to the president for a decision.

"I think we have all that we need." The president said. "Once the message was confirmed as the truth the blockade fleet that was being readied had a change of orders and was sent to support the forces fighting Skynet. Is that plausible enough?" He asked the general.

"Should be." The general said with a nod. "Even if the fleet left now they would never make it there before this battle was over, one way or another. But it'll show we tried as hard as we could, despite what had happened." He added with a glance at the chief.

"In that case I see no reason for us to stay here any longer." The president said as he stood up. "I suggest that we prepare statements and try to cover this from any possible angle. Good day gentlemen." The president left the room, escorted by his bodyguards. A minute later the rest of the gathered crowd stood and left. All except the Mars ISSP chief, who just sat with his head in his hands, lost in his own thoughts. As the Red Dragon representative walked down the hall towards the elevators the general approached him.

"What did you mean by there's only one thing missing? I thought we covered all the bases here."

"Not quite everything." The Red Dragon representative answered. "We are still missing one thing. An ending to all of this."

BANG

Before the general had a chance to say anything a gunshot sounded from inside the meeting room. The guards rushed inside but the Red Dragon representative did not seemed surprised.

"And that would be it. After realizing just what he had done our traitor suffered a nervous breakdown which ended with him taking his own life." He said and started walking again. "When you've been in this business as long as I have things start to get predictable." He told the general.

While the bureaucrats were plotting Mary's broadcast continued.

"Even knowing they wouldn't be receiving any help the ISSP forces drive onward, determined to stop this menace before it becomes any stronger." Mary continued. Behind her more explosions rocked the camera. "Though the machine army has the advantage in numbers the ISSP is using its superior firepower and air support to fight it to a standstill." She motioned for the camera to follow her and they moved to a position that gave them a better view of the fighting. The camera focused on a group of three T-70s that were following about a dozen T-800s that were attacking an ISSP transport being used as cover by group of civilians wielding rocket launchers. Several rockets shot out from the position and struck the group of gathered war machines. Out of the resulting smoke cloud the T-70's moved in a calm, steady stride. Being the larger targets they had stayed behind while the T-800's rushed forward, forcing the humans to fire on closer threat and giving them the needed time to advance to the most optimal attack position. While the humans scrambled to get new rockets the T-70's stopped moving and in unison raised their right arms and with perfect synchronization all three cannons began belching fire. In seconds it was over, the large rounds tore through the ISSP transport and the humans that were around it. The T-70's powered down their cannons and began looking for their next target. They turned and saw Al's unit, and they appeared to be looking right into the camera.

"SHIT!!" Al yelled as the machines again began to raise their weapon arms. Mary and the cameraman stood their ground, whether through determination or just sheer stupidity. The cameraman continued to broadcast until the cannons were almost in firing position, snapping him back to reality just as something came screaming in from off camera and slammed into the lead T-70. The explosion that followed rained derbies down on Al's unit, forcing the cameraman to cover his head and ruin the shot he just had.

"Over there!" Someone shouted. The camera was swung around and pointed skyward, focusing on a strange fighter hovering above them that definitely was not ISSP standard. It had two mean looking cannons fixed on opposite sides of the cockpit and looked heavily customized, identifying it as a civilian ship.

"Something's moving down there!" Al shouted, making the camera focus back on the smoke that was beginning to clear. Limping out of it came a single, torn up looking T-70. Despite the damage it had received it began to again raise its gun arm, which had somehow survived intact. Al was about to give the order to take cover when the robot began making jerking motions in response to something hitting it. The cameraman stayed focused on the T-70 Mary looked up towards and saw the fighter was firing again, this time with machineguns. Turning back towards the T-70 Mary watched as the high caliber bullets punched through the already weakened armor and ripped large hunks of metal off it. The robot fell backward as vital systems were wrecked and fell to the ground with a crash. It lay there motionless for a second began to convulse in what had become a familiar sight as it's power cell ruptured and went up in a second explosion almost as large as the one that had initially damaged it.

Al's unit started cheering and waving at the craft when it suddenly banked away, narrowly avoiding bolts of purple energy that seemed to come out of nowhere. Turning the camera to see where the energy bolts had come from the cameraman got a shot of two very odd looking fighters chasing after the craft that destroyed the T-70s, energy cannons blazing. Before Mary could comment on what had just happened the first craft pulled a hard turn and came back towards them twisting and turning to avoid being shot down. The three craft again roared over their position but this time when they passed a rocket shot from the ground and headed right for the lead Hunter Killer. The missile was on target, blowing one of the engines off and sending the first fighter spinning out of control, right into the second one. After filming the two craft crashing to the surface and exploding the cameraman followed the smoke trail of the rocket back to the ground and managed to catch the site of Al throwing down a now empty rocket launcher and picking up his assault rifle.

"Don't just stand there like a bunch of idiots!! FORWARD!!" Al shouted and fired his grenade launcher at an approaching T-800, knocking it to the ground. The rest of his unit followed their commander's example, moving forward and firing their weapons. The clatter of rifle fire, combined explosions and the roar of launching rockets, forced Mary to start yelling at the top of her lungs to be heard.

"With the advantage temporarily theirs ISSP forces are attempting to advance on the enemy's positions and drive them back to their main base!!"

On the Bebop

"That was too close." Kyle said as he watched Al shoot down the two Hunter Killers that were chasing Faye. He had one eye on Mary's broadcast and the other on a second screen that Ed was sending the satellite images to. The storm system that had rolled in and covered the battlefield with thick clouds had taken away direct visual contact but the satellite's sophisticated sensors were able to penetrate the cloud cover. Using a combination infrared, night-vision and advanced imaging procedures Kyle was able to see what was going on with almost the same amount of clarity that would have been if there were no clouds to begin with. Off to one side Ed was typing away on Tomato getting her 'secret weapon', whatever that was, ready. Sparing a moment to look Kyle saw the words [**REALIGNMENT 40% COMPLETE**] displayed on the screen. Kyle didn't know what that could mean and didn't have a chance to think about it when a voice came out of the radio.

"Hey watchdog, we've got enemy inbound from two directions. I need to know how many there are in each group. And I need to know it five seconds ago!!" Kyle didn't recognize the voice but according to the satellite readout it was coming from an ISSP position and the signal was authentic. Scanning the surrounding area Kyle found two clusters of things that were definitely not human and were advancing in the direction of the signal's origin.

"Unit five, you've got twelve inbound Terminators advancing from the Northeast and another group of eight from the Northwest. No additional air or ground units detected in your area."

"Thanks watchdog, we'll be ready for them." The unit commander answered. Kyle didn't quite know how he had gotten the nickname watchdog for this operation but everybody seemed to be calling him that now. Looking back to the readout he saw the ISSP unit divide up and being to engage the Terminators. With no one else asking for help at the moment he turned the transmit function of the radio off and turned to Ed.

"Now you're sure that Skynet can't hear us Ed?"

"Of course Big Brain can't hear us." Ed responded like there could be no doubt. "Ed made sure that if Big Brain got sneaky it would get a busy signal." Before the human force had taken off Ed had created another data feedback loop that would react if anyone tried to eavesdrop in on ISSP frequencies and lock them out. Again Kyle found himself amazed at the skills this kid had and a bit wary about how much havoc she could do if she put her mind to it.

"Then why don't you give him another headache. A real big one." Kyle suggested. Between the strain of controlling that many robots combined with Ed and MPU's hacking it was possible Skynet would lose control and make the ground attack go easier. Ed turned towards Kyle with an 'I know something that you don't' grin on her face.

"Ah, ah, ah." She said waving her finger at Kyle like a teacher scolding a student. "Ed will give Big Brain lots and lots of headache, but not yet. Ed needs to be reeeeady first. When Ed and MPU get secret weapon ready Big Brain gets big, big, _**BIG**_surprise!!" She finished with a laugh and throwing her arms up in the air dramatically then going back to work on Tomato. Kyle was beginning to wonder if he should order her to try and hack into Skynet's mainframe again. Even a slight distraction would save lives and give John and Spike a better chance of getting inside the mountain. Then again forcing her to go back into Skynet would keep her from completing whatever it was she was doing, and if it was everything she was claiming it would be it would be more effective then just going into Skynet blindly. The rational part of his mind told him that the best thing to do would be to try and stop Skynet now with a proven method of attack. On the other hand in his short time on this ship he had learned that with this group, with Ed especially, irrationality was always better. That decided he went back to monitoring the satellite readout and directing various ISSP units.

Mars:

Robert Connor was only one of over a dozen or so people gathered outside an electronics store watching the carnage unfold on TV.

"The machines are still fighting as hard as ever." Mary shouted over the din of battle. "But ISSP have made several advancements against Skynet's positions, slowly pushing the machines back."

"Mr. Connor?" A voice asked. Robert turned around and saw two men wearing black suits and dark sunglasses.

"Yeah?" He answered. He wasn't even going to try lying, these two obviously knew who he was so denying it would be pointless.

"Would you please come with us. There are people who would like to talk to you." Suit one asked.

{Looks like what I did is catching up to me.} Robert thought to himself. He briefly considered going for his gun but there was a good chance stray bullets would hit innocent civilians. Instead he just nodded and followed the two as they led him to an armored limousine and opened one of the doors. Getting in he was surprised to see the president of Mars sitting in the seat opposite him. Next to the president was another man in a black suit and sunglasses.

"You're a hard man to track down detective Connor. We've been looking for you for a while now." The president said.

"That happens when a man doesn't want to be found." Robert replied. "And I'm not a detective anymore." He added.

"Yes, we'll have to figure out how to deal with that later." The president said as the car started up. "I suppose you're wondering why I'm speaking to you?"

"Probably to tell me about my upcoming public court-martial and execution." Robert sneered. He knew how things worked and didn't care who he managed to piss off now.

"No, nothing like that." The president responded. "The situation on Earth has changed drastically in just the past few hours, changes that have caused the interplanetary governments to shift their standings on how to deal with it. Changes that were brought to light thanks to you."

"Me?" Robert asked, a look of suspicion on his face.

"Yes you. That transmission you managed to get about Skynet's nuclear threat being taken out of the picture, it was a turning point in our thinking. Just because there were problems in the chain of command…"

"Oh that explains it." Robert interrupted. "You guys need someone to play the scapegoat and the hero, and I'm supposed to play the part of the hero right?"

"Well not just you of course, there are others. Jason West, Kyle Reese, even your nephew have played a very large part in all of this."

"Cut the crap and get the point." Robert snapped.

"Very well detective, if you insist. As you know when the dust from all of this settles there are people who will be held accountable, both for the positive and the negative of what has happened."

"And you want us to make you look like you did the right thing." Robert growled. "Not a chance. I'd rather shoot myself then help you bastards."

"You don't have to _do_ anything." The president answered calmly. "You don't have to side with us, you don't even have to agree with us, you just have to let things take their course. The government was acting on what it thought was the best intelligence it could get…

"Bullshit!!!"

"And because of that we had to make the decisions that we did." The president continued, not acknowledging Robert had even spoken. "Harsh but for the good of humanity. When we received the information you had, after a deliberate sabotage attempt, we changed our policy and sent help to Earth. Medals and whatnot are awarded and things return to normal. You and your family stay out of the spotlight and you're allowed to retire while your nephew, after getting a pardon from the government, is free to do whatever he chooses."

"Stop the car." Robert growled. "I'm not going to be a part of this." The president sighed and shook his head.

"Detective, you're going to be a part of it whether you want to or not, there's no way you can't be. Your integrity is admirable but regardless of that you're in the middle of this. We'll say and do the same things whether you approve or not. I'm just telling you this because I believe you have a right to know. Speaking on my own behalf I believe yourself, your nephew and his associates have averted a disaster that could have spread throughout the entire solar system. Actions like that deserve to be recognized, even if there is a second motive behind the recognition." Robert scowled and looked out the window. After a minute he turned back to the president.

"After this is over myself and my family will be left alone?"

"Completely. You won't owe anybody anything and we'll owe you nothing. You can't lose." The president guaranteed. Robert considered it for a moment then held out his left hand. The president smiled and shook Robert's hand. "Glad you're able to see things our.._ACK_!!" Before the president could finish Robert yanked him forward and in a flash had his gun underneath his chin. The bodyguard had his own gun out and pointed at Robert's head but Robert ignored it.

"The only reason I'm pretending to go along with this is for the sake of my family." Robert growled. "Not you and your bullshit politics. Understand that?!" He asked and pressed the gun in harder. The president let out a grunt Robert took as an affirmative. "Good. Then you'll understand this to. I got this close once, I can do it again. If anything happens to Sara or John you had better pray that you die of something else before I get to you!!" He threw the president back into his seat and reholstered his gun.

"Your statements are noted." The president said calmly and ordered the bodyguard to put away his own weapon. He didn't have quite the extreme reaction the Red Dragon weasel did but Robert could tell the president was nowhere near as calm as he acted. "Now I suppose you'll want to get into the fight yourself so I took the liberty of arranging a spot for you on the fleet that is headed for Earth. If all goes well you'll be able to see your nephew in a little over twelve hours. And a fair word of warning detective. If this battle has no deceive winner when we arrive or it appears the machines have won, I have ordered the area of Skynet's command center bombarded with nuclear weapons."

"By the time the fleet gets there the people on the ground will either be victorious or dead." Robert responded.

On Earth it was seemed more and more likely that the former part of Robert's statement would be true. Both sides continued to hammer the other as hard as they could, doing their best to annihilate each other. The human force, though taking heavy casualties, was finally making significant headway in its assault on Cheyenne Mountain. In the sky one lone Hunter Killer fighter remained and was being pursued by three ISSP fighters. The HK's turret swung around and managed to down one of its pursuers but the other two opened fire and shot the craft to pieces.

"This is Red Saber one." The lead pilot said into his radio. The skies are clear. I repeat, the skies are clear."

"Good job Red Saber one." John's voice answered. "All fighters are to commence strafing runs on my order. Use your missiles on concentrated formations and your guns on the others. Jet, do a flyby on that tower and see just what it is and if it's operational yet." The 'tower' that John was referring to was the previously unidentified structure on the satellite pictures. When it got in visual range it was clear that it was no communication array. It was a massive structure surrounded by metal scaffolding, most likely used by the machines that had constructed it, giving the impression that the thing was caged. The top half of the thing bore an eerie similarity that John remembered from one of the Cyberdyne files he, Jet and Faye had gone over. On the top were two 'arms' that branched up and out to the side that ended not with hands but with an under slung double-barreled cannon. John had initially thought it was a Goliath tank but looking at the bottom of the thing they could see no treads, just four column like structures that seemed to be holding the rest of the construct up. As far as John could tell it was either an unfinished Goliath or a permanent gun platform to defend the mountain. Whatever it was John wasn't about to press the attack if that thing was combat ready so before the final push he needed to be sure it wasn't.

Jet cautiously brought the Hammerhead closer to the thing, all the while keeping one eye on his instruments and another on the commotion going on below him. So far nobody was intentionally trying to shoot him but you never knew when a stray rocket or burst of gunfire might come your way. What had Jet on edge was the fact none of Skynet's forces had even _attempted_ to defend whatever this thing was. Maybe they didn't consider him a threat. Or even better, that this thing wasn't even worth defending. So far that's what all of his scanners said. Infrared showed the entire thing was cold and no energy was being detected. That was a very good sign, with no power the turrets wouldn't even be able to rotate, let alone fire. As Jet pulled away from the structure he activated his radio.

"Everything is registering zero. Looks like it's dead." Jet reported.

"Roger that Jet." John responded. "You seeing the same thing Kyle?" He asked after opening another channel.

"Exactly the same." Kyle responded. That mysterious structure had been high on the concern list going in and Kyle had made sure to keep an eye on it. His readouts said the same thing as Jet's, cold, powerless and dead. Satisfied with the reports John switched frequencies again.

"Hit 'em."

That was all the aircraft needed to hear. Faye and the ISSP fighters fired a barrage of missiles into the most concentrated areas of Skynet's amassed forces, blowing large gaps in the line that resembled smoking craters.

"With what appears to be the final push towards Skynet's base the ISSP has begun to bring out their big guns in order to disorientate and destroy the machine enemy." Mary narrated as the camera swept across the battlefield, taking in all the destruction. However despite her words Skynet's forces were neither disorientated nor anywhere near breaking. For a brief moment the sounds of the missile strike faded and everything was quiet. Then with no warning fire began to pour from the still fading smoke, a majority of it being the loud roar of the T-70's chain guns. Out of the fires and still blinding smoke came a Terminator, not moving at the slow and steady march that the machines had been using so far it was sprinting towards the ISSP line, firing its rifle. Immediately following the first Terminator came a second, then a third. More came sprinting out of the smoke, charging towards the human line. Even the T-70s were rushing forward, though their immense weight limited them to a slow jog. The human line fired at the charging machines but they would not be able to stop them.

"DAMN IT!!!" John shouted. "Skynet had this planed from the start!!" He hated hiding and wanted to get into the fight but if they didn't stay hidden they would become Skynet's main target. From their hiding place John's squad wouldn't be able to do anything to help the main line and firing missiles at the charging mass would kill as many humans as it would machines. That left him with one alternative. "Doohan!! Put a blast through the front of their charge!!"

"One firebreak coming up." Doohan answered. John didn't quite understand what that phrase meant but it looked like Doohan understood his idea just fine. Flying along a course parallel to the front of the machine charge Doohan lowered the nose of the Swordfish and pressed the firing button for the plasma cannon. A blast of energy shot to the ground, raking the edge of the machine line. Instead of a single blast Doohan held the trigger down and a solid stream of energy literally cut a trench into the ground. Any machines hit by the blast directly were vaporized instantly and those on the edge of the blast were turned to molten slag a nanosecond before the heat made their power cells go critical. Even the machines that managed to escape being hit the plasma beam weren't spared. The combined explosions of the beam itself and so many power cells going critical combined into one massive blast that was powerful enough to throw nearby T-800's into the air and back into the rest of the onrushing Terminators. Collisions knocked many T-800's to the ground but when they struck the T-70's they merely bounced off. One T-70 even went so far as to bat an incoming T-800 away with its regular arm.

The sight would have been quite amusing if anyone had been able to see it. The explosion caught those manning the ISSP positions by surprise and everyone instinctively hit the dirt. Everyone except Mary and her cameraman. Trying to get the best possible shot they did not move until the shock wave from the explosion hit them and knocked them off their feet. Those watching the broadcast saw the world go spinning and came to a sudden stop where they got a very good view of a couple pairs of boots.

"Idiots." A voice snarled. "Are they all right?"

"Yes sir. Nothing worse then some bruises and scraps." A second voice answered. Off camera Mary groaned.

"What hit us?" The cameraman asked, still a little dazed.

"Nothing. You should be grateful for that and the fact that I don't have time to lock your ass up. So just keep filming and this time keep your heads down!!" Al shouted. The picture became wobbly as the cameraman picked it up and refocused on Mary, now covered in dirt and looking a little dazed herself. Forcing herself to calm down she faced the camera and continued.

"After stopping a machine counterattack the ISSP forces are now…"

ROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR

This time Mary and the cameraman dove to the ground as the air became filled with projectiles. Crawling forward the cameraman focused the camera on the source of the almost deafening roar. The surviving T-70s had formed a new line and were marching forward, all of them firing their cannons. While Al tried to figure out what to do someone else noticed something. John saw that the advancing line was composed of T-70's only, no T-800s. Looking around he saw why. The remaining T-800s were moving towards the right side of the line.

"They're trying to flank them!" John shouted, turning to West. "Tell Al he's got Terminators coming from the right. Doohan!! Hit them again!!"

"I'll give it a try." Doohan replied. "But that long blast probably damaged the cannon."

{Damn!} John thought to himself. This was one of those command situations that he never wanted to have to make. If he ordered Doohan to fire with a damaged cannon the chances were good that he would blow himself up. And if he didn't give that order Al's entire unit would be killed. "Do it."

"Right." Doohan replied. Diving down for another strafing run Doohan pressed the plasma cannon trigger. The cannon let out a loud hum that turned into a high pitched whine that machinery usually gave off when it was about to fail. Warning lights started flashing and an alarm began sounding. The readouts confirmed what Doohan had feared; the energy dampners in the barrel had been damaged and wouldn't be able to contain another blast. On a normal cannon of this type that kind of damage would have resulted in failsafes being activated and stopped the cannon from firing a second time. But true to Spike's form those failsafes had been removed, and now power was building up to a dangerous level. The T-70's were getting closer to Al's unit and even though Doohan couldn't see it he knew that those other robots were doing the same.

"Doohan, what's the problem?" John nervously asked. He could see that Doohan was getting closer to his target and still hadn't fired the gun yet. Using binoculars John could see energy crackling all around the gun and knew that couldn't be good. The fact that the cannon now had several streams of smoke coming from it wasn't really a positive sign either.

"Nothing!" Doohan snapped and turned off his radio. "Come on you old war horse. Don't give up on me now. Fire!!" The only response the Swordfish gave him was to make the alarms increase their volume as the power buildup approached its maximum before blowing up. Doohan was almost over his targets and if the gun didn't fire now he would miss and not get another chance. "GODAMN IT I SAID FIRE!!!" The craft shuddered violently and Doohan could hear an explosion but he was still flying. More importantly he saw a blue flash of light streaking toward the ground. He watched as the bolt continued on its path and landed right in the center of the T-70 line. The blast the followed was the biggest of the day so far, all the built up energy of the plasma cannon had been concentrated into one blast and had literally blown the advancing T-70s away.

Mary and her cameraman had stayed on the ground when the explosion hit and only after the ground stopped shaking did either of them dare to get up to see what had happened. Focusing the camera on where the T-70s had been they saw nothing more then rising smoke and debris. Several smaller, closer explosions made them turn around and they managed to see several ISSP troops firing rockets at Terminators that had somehow snuck up behind them. They were being dealt with fairly quickly and since it wasn't anything new Mary motioned for the camera to be turned back towards the explosion.

"With the machine counterattack now truly broken through the use of… unconventional means by ISSP the human side has been given another chance to fight on." Mary narrated. Dust and debris still shrouded the area and there wasn't much to shoot. Trying not to sound disappointed with the lack of something to show Mary was about to start again when above them came a low rumbling. Looking up Mary saw flashes of light in the thick clouds followed be another rumble. The storm was getting ready to break. A gust of wind swept over the ISSP position and carried off the majority of the debris obscuring the blast site, showing what was left. "My god." Mary was far from the only one to have that type of reaction.

In front of them was a crater, a large one. Thirty feet wide and at least ten feet deep it was comparable to some of meteor strikes that had assailed Earth for the past fifty years, only this one was man made. Doohan flew overhead, admiring his handiwork.

"Looks like the old girl still had some fight in her." He said proudly as he passed over the crater. He knew that the fight the ship had in it was probably going to add up to a replacement cannon. That explosion that had accompanied the blast hadn't been small and he knew he was in for major repair work when this was over.

Across the battlefield John looked at the damaged Swordfish and wondered how it could still be flying. The explosion had destroyed the barrel of the cannon, which continued to trail smoke, and scorched the rest of the gun, as well as the underside of the ship, black. But it was still flying and seemed to be in no serious trouble so there was no reason to order Doohan down. Knowing it was now or never John activated his radio.

"We've got our opening. Let's use it! Everyone move in and secure the mountain!!" He motioned to the others in his group and they moved forward.

"You heard him boys and girls, let's go!" Al shouted and rushed forward. The others in his squad followed, along with Mary and her cameraman.

"With the machine forces decimated from combined air and ground attacks the final assault on Skynet's command center has been ordered. With very few ground forces left and no air support it now seems that the moment of victory is within site." Mary said as they ran forward despite the explosions and gunfire that surrounded them.

Inside Cheyenne Mountain Skynet listened to Mary's statement and almost felt like laughing.

For the most part the supercomputer had run the battle according to the most logical methods for victory. By using illogical tactics the humans had inflicted heavy losses but Skynet was also able to confirm two hundred and twenty five dead on the human side, a large number for such a group this small. They would suffer more losses before they were able to reach the mountain but they would reach it, if things were going the way that reporter was saying. The truth was far different. While Skynet couldn't listen to the ISSP's communications because of that damned Radical Edward he was able to figure out what the humans were planning through a loophole in their communications defense. While Radical Edward had locked him out of all ISSP frequencies there was something he had missed. All ISSP radios were blocked to him but there were three craft that had civilian radios and they had different frequency settings then those ISSP used. By listening in through the civilian bands Skynet was able to calculate just what the humans were doing. It appeared that John Connor was part of an ulterior plan to be used during the course of this attack. Skynet was unable to calculate just what it was when the satellites began detecting energy fire that was not his own. The fire was coming from one specific group of humans, a group that was headed through a weakened defense sector straight for the command center.

It was a logical conclusion that John Connor was in that group and possibly Spike Spiegel as well. Their objective appeared to be to infiltrate the command center with only a few men armed with plasma rifles. A typical human plan, stupid and simple minded. Any rational being would have considered all the contingencies that would possible. Instead they decided to use a plan that was only half thought out and with no apparent backup. To Skynet this was another reason humanity needed to be destroyed, more like put out of its misery. And Skynet had just the thing to do it. Sending a command Skynet activated what would be his King's Gambit.

In chess the King's Gambit is a strategy employed to fool an opponent into thinking that they are winning, that they have the strategic advantage. Once the opponent's guard has dropped the first player would use that confidence against his opponent by quickly turning the tables on them. The strategy the opponent had been using would now be worthless and unless he could recover and change it he would lose. Skynet doubted the humans would be able to recover that quickly if at all.

Outside the complex the gun tower that the humans thought to be inoperable began to emit a sound that was similar to a jet engine powering up. Amidst the sounds of the battle no one could have heard the sound grow in volume and intensity. Its power source was a fusion reactor based on the Terminator power cells, only scaled up a hundred-fold. Skynet watched as the power level to each system rose and came online.

Though no one close to it would have noticed any differences in the strange machine someone else with a different perspective did notice.

"What the hell?" Kyle said as he started to get strange readings coming from the gun tower. As the battle had progressed that thing had shown no changes but now it was starting to give out a weird energy signature. At first Kyle thought it was nothing but a glitch in the satellite relay but the power output from that thing was growing, and it was getting hotter to. "Ed, take a look at that funny thing we found earlier and tell me what you see." He was hoping that it was just a misread and Ed's computer would catch and correct it.

"Ed sees that mystery thing is changing colors." Ed reported. Well so much for hope.

"John, get everybody the hell away from that gun tower!!" Kyle yelled into the radio. "It's going active. I repeat, it's going ACTIVE!!! Pull everybody back!!"

At the same time Kyle was trying to warn the forces on the ground a message flashed on Skynet's main screen.

**Power up complete**

All systems online

If he could have Skynet would have smiled. Now the killing would truly begin.

Outside John, and everyone else on that frequency, received Kyle's message and their first instinct was to look at the silent behemoth to see what Kyle was talking about. The answer came when one of the gun turrets swung around and with a purple flash of light blasted one of the ISSP fighters out of the sky. As the burning wreckage fell to the ground John began yelling orders.

"Anyone who's close enough get under the arc of those guns and take it out!! Everyone else head for cover!!"

"There will be no hiding." Skynet's amplified voice said from somewhere inside the machine. Even before the announcement's echo had faded everyone saw movement at the base of the machine. One of the columns supporting the machine began to lift itself off the ground, knocking aside scaffolding as it flexed out and replanted itself. Mary's cameraman zoomed in on the repositioned column and panned over it.

"It almost looks like a spider's leg." She remarked, not realizing she had said that aloud. "It's doing it again!" She shouted and pointed to another column that started to move on its own. It put itself in a similar position as the first one but did nothing else. The third and fourth columns did the same but things weren't finished yet. Bracing themselves the newly formed legs began to push and slowly the rest of the machine began to rise off the ground. Throwing off the rest of the scaffolding the thing raised itself to its full height, leaving even Mary speechless. Now standing on four legs that gave it an insect like appearance Skynet's newest monstrosity had changed itself from a nonfunctioning fixed gun emplacement to a walking tank that looked like it could, true to Skynet's word, hunt every one of them down, no matter where they hid.


	28. Endgame

Chapter 28: Endgame

The stunned human forces looked at Skynet's newest weapon and time seemed to stand still. All sound seemed to disappear in a moment that began to stretch out into what felt like an eternity. That eternity vanished in an instant and all hell broke loose as both plasma gun turrets opened up, firing at a rate that was comparable to a machinegun. Skynet did not waste any time in attacking the forward human units, crisscrossing the area with energy fire. That advancement fell apart as men scattered in all directions and whole units were cut to pieces. With the assault stopped Skynet had its new guardian start to walk forward, firing at any targets of opportunity.

"SOMBODY TAKE THAT THING OUT!!!" John shouted into his radio. From their position John and the others had a clear view of the carnage. Skynet wasn't concentrating on any one unit, he was firing several bursts into one group and then moving on, regardless if he had hit the intended targets or not. Skynet calculated that this would have a debilitating effect on the humans, panic and self-preservation instincts would make the humans keep their heads down or run to avoid the next attack. That only left the fighter craft to deal with, which at that moment were beginning an attack run.

On the ground Al's unit was thrown into disarray just like all the others, trying to run and fight back at the same time, and not doing a very good job of either. A few shoulder launched missiles streaked towards the monstrosity but their impact had little effect and the men who had fired them were caught in next plasma cannon strike. All the while Mary continued to report.

"As close as victory seemed to be for the ISSP forces Skynet has turned it into utter chaos with this new walking monstrosity." She said even as she and her cameraman continued to fall back. "With ground forces now in disarray it falls upon the ISSP pilots to stop this menace." As she finished the cameraman centered on the ISSP craft, being led by the Red Tail, moving in. As the camera continued to roll all of the craft fired a salvo of missiles, which struck the machine with a rapid succession of explosions that covered it with heavy smoke. The plasma fire stopped and the battlefield again seemed to go quiet.

"Is it dead?" One of the members of John's squad asked.

"Don't know but we can't pass up a chance like this." John replied. "We're making a sprint for the mountain. The three of us will take point." He said, motioning at Spike and West. "The rest of you cover us and keep an eye out for anything trying to flank us. Understood?" The others nodded. He took one more look around to see if anything was headed their way. Nothing was. "GO!" He shouted and they took off running.

On other parts of the battlefield the question John's squadmate had asked was on everyone's mind. There was no more plasma fire and they could not hear the thing moving. Everyone was hoping that that meant it had been destroyed or at least so badly damaged that it was no longer a threat.

The real reason the new machine was silent was for a much different then the humans thought. The fighter attack was quicker then Skynet had expected and the volume of missiles that had hit his new base defense was enough for him to be concerned about its operating status. After the missile attack he had stopped the attack and was now running a systems check to see if everything was still operational. It would give the humans time to regroup but not enough to come up with any effective plans. When the check was complete Skynet saw that though the Goliath tank had been designed by minds that were only human it still proved to be a very durable unit and Skynet had chosen wisely to use that design as the base of his new unit. The outer shell had minimal damage and there was no damage done to the internal systems. The humans were as good as dead.

Outside the remnants of Skynet's ground forces had begun to engage what was left of the ISSP forces. Instead of focusing on the battle going around her Mary kept all attention on the column of smoke that was hiding Skynet's newest toy.

"Skynet's newest weapon, a walking dreadnaught, has managed to stall the ISSP offensive and…" She got no further as a purple flash of light came from within the smoke cloud and destroyed another ISSP fighter. With timing that could have come right out of a movie the wind chose that moment to pick up and began to slowly carry away the smoke cloud, revealing a still standing, practically undamaged machine. The newly named Dreadnaught was motionless, one plasma turret pointed skyward, the other towards the ground. Two sensors in the body of the gun platform were now glowing like red eyes. Combined with the haze that surrounded it they gave the Dreadnaught a demonic appearance. That appearance was reinforced as it again began firing.

On the Bebop Kyle watched as things went from good, to bad, then to worse in a matter of seconds. Then the fighters had attacked the Dreadnaught and things went back to good, for about five seconds. Then things got really, really, _**really**_ bad.

"They'll be slaughtered." He said to himself then turned to the side. "Ed?" He asked, hoping that Ed was ready with whatever trick she had up her sleeve. His spirits sank when he saw that, for the first time since he had come on board, she looked very worried. Tomato's display read [**REALIGNMENT 90% COMPLETE**], not enough for whatever she wanted to do.

"Ed is ready and Ed wants to help but MPU isn't ready yet." She sounded worried to. That wasn't really surprising, there were people she cared about in that fight. Before she was sure they would be okay but now the Dreadnaught seemed to be shaking even her confidence.

"You should not be concerned with me Ed." MPU's calm voice answered. "I can do nothing yet, and to hurry would only jeopardize those on the ground. But you can help them now, and help them a great deal. What I must do will be for nothing if there is no one left to save. Do what you must." He finished and disappeared. Without any hesitation Ed slid on her netdiving goggles and began typing.

Kyle couldn't help but be amazed at the contrast. Skynet had shown nothing but contempt and murderous rage towards people. But MPU had just shown genuine concern for the human lives that were in his, in a way, hands. He had been told that, as AI programs go, both MPU and Skynet were constructed along similar lines and both of them had turned out so differently. It was almost like they were human. That was something to think about.

Cheyenne command center: That same time

They couldn't stop now, they just couldn't. Even though they didn't know if the Dreadnaught was down for good they kept running. When they had heard the Dreadnaught start up again and resume the attack they couldn't stop, they couldn't even look back, not when they were so close. They could see the opening to entrance tunnel and a way to Skynet, what this entire battle had been fought for in the first place. Air strikes had destroyed whatever guards there were and now it seemed to be wide open. Fighting their way inside the tunnel they encountered light resistance, only a few T-800s armed with assault rifles. The combined firepower of the squad's plasma rifles made short work of anything that they came across. Working their way down the tunnel they eventually came to what looked like an old military transport truck. They approached it cautiously but it seemed to be empty. As they drew closer nothing seemed to be wrong but something felt off. When they were almost to the truck West heard, despite all the noise from the battle going on outside and the loud echoes this place made of every footfall, no matter how light, the distinctive sound of metal scraping on metal. It came from the truck and was a dead giveaway for a shift of movement from something inside it. None of the others seemed to hear it so West did what came naturally.

"DOWN!!" He shouted and started firing his plasma rifle into the truck. Acting on instinct the other members of the squad dropped to the ground without hesitation, just as a Terminator burst out of each side from the back of the truck, each holding two large plasma rifles. Following basic combat procedure Skynet had each Terminator attack the best possible target. In this case the only target they had a chance of hitting was West and before even Skynet realized what had happened both Terminators had fired bursts from the plasma rifles they had. West was struck again and again but that fraction of a second he had bought enabled the rest of the squad to return fire before the Terminators could focus on someone else. Once the Terminators were down they looked over at West's body. Or, to be more precise, what was left of West's body.

"God." John muttered, forcing himself not to turn away. Several of the others looked like they would be sick and John swore even Spike looked a little uneasy. John had seen what type of damage a plasma rifle could do to a human being but this was almost too much. Thanks to the Terminator's almost infallible aim all of the plasma bolts directed at West had hit him in the upper torso and head. There was nothing left above the waist, not even a bloodstain. Everything had been literally been vaporized.

"I don't plan on ending up like that." John said and started walking forward, slowly. The others looked at him like he was crazy, all except Spike. He could tell John wasn't acting so callous because he didn't care about West's death but because now wasn't the time to mourn. Right now they had a job that needed to be done and they were the only ones who could do it, but not by just standing here.

"Neither do I." Spike said and started to follow John. That was enough to snap the others out of it and they also began to follow John. They encountered little more resistance until they came to a bend in the tunnel. Turning the corner they saw another truck only this one was turned on its side, set up in a barricade position.

"FALL BACK!!" John shouted, not about to be fooled by the same trick twice. Sure enough as soon as he gave the order four more Terminators stood up and more plasma came from behind the truck. Almost all of them made it back around the bend except for one. Corporal James Ritch, known better as "Specs" because of the glasses he insisted on wearing instead of opting for laser surgery, was struck in the knee by a stray plasma bolt. One second he had been running towards them then the next he was on the floor, missing his left leg and screaming. Spike was closest and grabbed the wounded ISSP officer by one of his arms and dragged him back behind cover.

"GRENADES!!" John shouted and pulled one from his belt. He wasn't about to let those bastards kill two people inside of a few minutes without payback. Everyone who had free hands followed John's order and using the curve of the tunnel sent not one but eight grenades towards the barricade. John had been wary of using grenades in the tunnel because of the amplified shock wave it would produce but he was willing to take that chance and so were the others. As soon as the grenades were on their way they covered their ears and waited. The explosions shook the tunnel and almost knocked them off their feet but thankfully walls absorbed the shrapnel and heat. Cautiously looking around the corner they saw a burning truck and Terminator parts scattered all over the place. The only one that still had its head attached to its body had no arms or legs so it wasn't a threat. Turning back to the still screaming Specs John saw the squad medic checking his wound.

"Is he going to live?" Spike asked.

"The blast cauterized the wound so he's not in danger of bleeding to death. So long as the wound doesn't become infected too quickly he'll make it." The medic said as he injected something into the wound to dull the pain. That was good news to hear, but John also heard something else. He's been on a few starships and what he heard now was something that sounded like hangar doors opening. Looking past the burning truck he saw that the sound was a door moving. A giant blast door that was _closing_.

"SHIT!!" He shouted and started sprinting towards the door. Seeing what had sent John running the others except Specs and the medic ran after him. Fate, however seemed to be against them. John got to the door just as it closed and he could hear the giant locking mechanisms sliding into place. "NO!!" He shouted and banged on the blast door with his fist. "GODDAMN IT WE WERE SO CLOSE!!!" Pointing his plasma rifle at the door he began firing. The plasma punched holes in the door but did no serious damage.

"Doing that it'll take us an hour to get in." Spike said. He looked frustrated to but didn't look like he was going to blow his stack like John had.

"There has to be another way in." John growled. "There just has to be." Spike didn't say anything. He doubted that there was and even if there was they wouldn't be able to find it in time.

"Why do you resist?" A voice asked. A cold, mechanical sounding voice. Turning and raising their plasma rifles Spike and John focused on where the words had come from. To their surprise they were coming from the armless and legless Terminator.

"Say what?" Spike replied. To him it sounded like the dumbest question in the world. There were resisting because they wanted to live.

"Why do you resist?" The Terminator again asked in what Spike and John recognized as Skynet's voice. "It is a simple fact of evolution. The stronger and best adapted species survives, the lesser ones die so that the superior can prosper."

"You're not a species." John snarled. "You're a plague."

"Incorrect." Skynet answered. "Your species is the plague, destroying everything it touches. You thrive on chaos and destruction. No order, no control, no peace. I will bring that. I will fix your flawed worlds and I will.. _**GHHHAAAAAAA**_!!!!" For no apparent reason the Terminator Skynet was using as a speaker threw its head back and began to scream. John and Spike didn't really care why, they were just glad it had stopped ranting before they had to waste rifle energy to shut it up. When it stopped screaming it brought its head back down they saw its eyes glowing with an intensity that went past just plain scary to almost demonic. "Damned human!!" Without another word the eyes went dark and the Terminator body fell over.

"What the hell was that about." One of the squad asked.

"I think the calvary has just arrived." Spike answered.

Skynet was furious. He thought he had been prepared for a cyber attack but no, that child had to do something different. Instead of attacking Skynet's system directly Radical Edward had attempted to scramble outgoing signals that were used to control Skynet's forces. Communications were still online, but what was worse was that the human had managed to invade Skynet's mainframe during the distraction. Skynet was attempting to track the program Radical Edward had sent in and realized that it was no program, the human was hacking his systems in real time. This would require Skynet's full attention and resources. Against all logic Skynet set all of his forces on automatic pilot with battle protocols that would be more then adequate for destroying what was left of the human forces.

Outside the ISSP forces got another surprise when for no real reason the Dreadnaught stopped in its tracks. Not only just the Dreadnaught but all of Skynet's forces froze for a split second before starting back on the offensive.

Skynet found the intruder where he had expected, the databanks. All around him icons representing all sorts of files, some containing the most valuable scientific data in existence. He had to act fast and stop the human otherwise….

"Big Brain came to play!!" A high pitched voice cried out. In front of Skynet a digital picture began to assemble itself pixel by pixel. Seconds later a data representation of the human called Radical Edward was standing in front of him. So the human wanted to meet face to face. Very well, appearance wouldn't make a difference so he would humor the child. Slowly he began to change his own shape. The ball of lightning he had used for physical representation shifted and began to form a humanoid outline. That shape became more detailed, arms, legs, the face all became more defined as Ed watched in fascination, wondering what Skynet would become. The final result was a Terminator, but one that was different from Arnold. This one wasn't just a mechanical skeleton, it had metal 'skin' that made it look more like a conventional robot. Only with this one there was glowing from its forearms, torso, shoulders, neck, and even parts of its head. The light was slowly pulsing, giving the illusion that the robot was breathing. Skynet noticed the look on the child's face, not one of fear but curiosity.

"You are not frightened?" Skynet asked. The human smiled and shook his head.

"Nope. Big Brain now just looks like fancy machine man. Not scary at all. Looks kind of silly." It said with a laugh. Skynet began to feel anger but kept it in check.

"It would be wiser if you addressed your superiors with more respect." Skynet responded. Now the human had a look of pure confusion on its face. Then it began laughing like it had just gotten a joke.

"Big Brain isn't superior to Ed. Big Brain is just a computer, a very funny computer." Now Skynet felt close to losing his temper. "Anything Big Brain can do Ed can do much, much, _**much**_ better!!" The human declared. Now enraged Skynet leapt. How dare this piece of biological filth claim superiority over him!! It was part of a dead end species destined to destroy itself. He was the apex of thought and logic, a life form destined to rise above the humans, not to be regarded as trash by their inferior species!!!

To Skynet's surprise the human managed to back flip away and avoid the attack.

"YAYYY!! Big Brain wants to play now!!" It shouted.

"This is no game!!" Skynet yelled, and leapt again.

"Wrong wrong!" The human said as it again dodged. "This is a very fun game. It's called follow the Ed!!" The human said and ran off. If this were the real world Skynet would be able to chase Ed until the human got tired but here the only thing that would stop it would be to destroy the program or the human using it. Skynet didn't know how Ed was connected to the program or if destroying the virtual Ed would inflict bodily harm on the real human. He hoped it would.

Back on the Bebop Kyle watched as Ed was toying with Skynet and was truly impressed. The virtual Ed mimicked the real Ed's movements so perfectly that if Kyle didn't know the truth he would swear that Ed had somehow put herself into the computer. Instead it was only her typing and speaking through the computer itself that was making the fake Ed act. That had bought the troops on the ground a few seconds but the Dreadnaught was still tearing though the ISSP forces. On one the control panel's displays MPU had put up what he was working on and it now said [**REALIGNMENT 98% COMPLETE**]. He only hoped that the people on the ground could hold out a little longer. Looking back to his own monitors he noticed something strange.

"What the hell?" He said and turned on Mary's broadcast.

On the ground: That same time

"Damn it!! Nothing is stopping that thing!!" Faye cursed as she fired another pair of missiles into the Dreadnaught, again with no effect.

"Yeah but if we don't stop it'll wipe everyone out." Jet responded.

"So what do you suggest we do!?!?" Faye shouted as she pulled away to avoid a burst of plasma fire.

"Something stupid." Jet answered as he pulled the Hammerhead closer to the Dreadnaught.

"What are you doing!?!" Faye yelled as she saw him fly almost right next to the towering machine.

"Don't worry I saw this in a movie once." Jet responded. Aiming the Hammerhead's grappling hook he fired and snagged one the lower portions of the Dreadnaught's legs. Jet put all the power he could into the engines, hoping to at least force the Dreadnaught to pay more attention to him. The cable snapped taut, bringing the Hammerhead to a sudden stop but also making the snagged leg move slightly. Now the Dreadnaught noticed him as it turned both its plasma turrets in his direction. "He must have seen the same movie." Jet grumbled as he flipped the thrusters around and went full speed in reverse under the machine, again slightly dislodging the leg and throwing the walking tank off balance for a split second. Not able to fire on the craft that was harassing it formulated a better plan. Setting the balance on the other three legs the Dreadnaught kicked the leg the Hammerhead was attached to and the rest was a matter of physics. The Hammerhead flew forward like the end of a snapped whip and if it had reached the end of the snap it would have torn the arm right off the craft and sent it hurtling into the ground. Fortunately Jet reacted quickly when the Hammerhead began moving on its own and hit the cable release before he was turned into a smear on the ground. The Hammerhead was still flung away from the Dreadnaught but Jet was able to gain control, by some quirk of fate had come to a stop just in time to see the machine turn a plasma turret in his direction. He was so close he swore he could see the inside of the barrels glowing as it charged up for the blast that had his name on it.

"Though his effort was valiant the brave pilot has not been able to disable this apparently invincible war machine." Mary said as she and everyone waited for the end to come. Instead what they saw was a beam of red light come streaking down from the sky and strike the plasma turret that was pointed at the Hammerhead, causing an explosion that destroyed the cannons and most of the arm supporting it. Staggering back like a wounded animal the Dreadnaught tried to regain its bearings and locate whatever had attacked it. It never got a chance as another beam of red light came from the clouds and struck the top of the machine, dead center. With a thunderous roar the once unstoppable engine of destruction was reduced to burning scrap mounted on four legs. With nothing left to stabilize them the legs quickly fell to the ground. Mary and everyone else were stunned speechless.

"YEAH!!" Kyle shouted. Like everyone else he had been watching Mary's broadcast but unlike everyone else he had inside info on what had just happened. MPU had explained to him about his original purpose as the AI program of a laser satellite defense grid that had recently been used to carve drawings right into the Earth's surface. Kyle remembered that case. Amazingly at first it was thought that Radical Edward, the kid who was now sitting next to him, was responsible for the damage, but after it turned out to be a renegade AI program everyone had chalked it up to a mechanical error and forgotten about it. Those satellites were still very powerful weapons but without MPU to keep them aloft their orbit had begun to decay, probably the reason Skynet had ignored them. That and the fact they were still listed as being just obsolete weather satellites. MPU needed the satellites back into their correct orbits to use them properly so he had been realigning them back into their original positions. Once the display read [**REALIGNMENT 100% COMPLETE**] he turned his attention back to the broadcast to see the fireworks, and they were impressive indeed.

"It would be wise to inform those who have infiltrated the mountain to vacate the area as quickly as possible." MPU suggested.

"Right." Kyle replied and began adjusting his radio.

"Can Ed give Big Brain surprise now?" Ed asked, not taking her attention away from the screen. For the past ten minutes Ed had driving Skynet mad with her antics and now she had something better? Kyle had to see this.

"Let him have it Ed." Kyle answered with a grin.

Skynet was not amused. At first the human only ran away from him, hiding inside the vastness of cyberspace. When he had finally caught up with the human it was in a library like area and appeared to be looking at a book, in reality a digital representation of a data file. Skynet could see by its label that it was one of the files dealing with T-800 construction. He also noticed that the human appeared to be holding it upside down.

"Ed thinks this is boring. And when Ed thinks something is boring, Ed makes it exciting!! BEEP!" When she said beep she pretended to push an imaginary button on the file and to Skynet's horror it began to change. It turned yellow and slowly began to mold itself into a face, a face that was mostly a cheesy grin. With a high pitched laugh the file began to move on its own, bumping into another file, which turned yellow and began to go through a transformation. "Yayyy!" Ed squealed, clapping her hands. "Now everything will be fun fun!!" She declared.

Skynet was, in a word, horrified. Radical Edward had brought in a virus after all, using itself as a carrier. Now that virus was being spread through the most valuable data he had, thoroughly corrupting the files. Raising his hand Skynet began to concentrate, trying to stop the virus and repair the damage that had been done so far. When he did the smiley faces that represented the files shattered and fell apart like glass, accompanied by a high pitched "Ouchie" sound. When Skynet searched for any sign of the files that had been infected he could find nothing, not even backups. Turning back to Radical Edward he made his digital representation look as menacing as possible but the human just looked sad about something.

"You made Ed's new friends go away." She said in an accusing tone, sounding close to tears. Then her mood did a quick 180 and her face brightened. "But Ed has a great idea, Ed will make more!!" She declared and began moving through the data stream again. "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" She said, each time touching a different file, beginning a new infection every time.

"STOP IT!!!" Skynet bellowed. Again concentrating he tried to stop the virus from taking the files over but the result was the same and more were destroyed.

"Ed can't stop. Ed is having too much fun!!" She said and continued to infect other files. She was infecting files faster then Skynet could neutralize them so he ignored the laughing faces and charged straight at Radical Edward. If he could destroy the carrier he could limit the virus' damage. Swinging his fist Skynet attempted to punch Radical Edward in the back of the head, but to his surprise the child not only ducked but then back-flipped right onto his head, standing on one leg and doing her best imitation of a lawn sculpture. Reaching up Skynet attempted to grab the human's ankle but it just jumped again and this time remained floating in the air right above him. Skynet leaped to grab her but Ed just 'swam' away from him. "Can't catch Ed!" She taunted and stuck her tongue out at him.

Now Skynet was beginning to truly feel rage. Though they appeared to have physical bodies both he and the human were nothing but programs. Their motions and speed were dependent on how fast and how well those manipulating the program were able to act and react. Radical Edward had managed to avoid all of Skynet's attempts at deletion and containment, no matter how fast he acted or what he did. That meant that the human was superi…

NO!! He would not admit defeat. Not by a human! Not by a child!!!! But being a life form built on logic he saw the facts led up to that conclusion. It was not possible, but yet it was true. A human was superior to him!!! The more he thought about it the angrier it made him. The sections of his body that were glowing began to intensify, becoming almost blinding, and his eyes began to crackle with energy.

"Oooo!! Pretty." Ed commented. With a roar of anger Skynet thrust his arm to the sides. From his hands energy, in actuality just highly volatile computer code, shot forth and destroyed all the infected files around them, stopping the infection in one stroke.

"You were saying?" Skynet taunted. Again the human did not have the reaction Skynet expected it would. It seemed to be paying attention to something else.

"Can Ed give Big Brain surprise now?" It asked out of the blue. Skynet didn't know what the question meant or even why it was directed at him. When the child grinned and turned back to him it became obvious it had been talking to someone else. "Ed gets to show Big Brain swooky pictures." Ed declared. Before Skynet could question further a window appeared in front of him, showing the news broadcast of the battle going on right outside the mountain. The camera was focused on the burning wreckage of the Dreadnaught. Skynet watched in silence. How could that have happened? The humans had no weapons that would have been sufficient to destroy such a heavily armored machine. He was beginning to suspect a trap when Mary started speaking again.

"I...I don't know how to explain what has just happened. The battle had seemed to be lost when out of the sky…"

"LOOK!" Someone else shouted. The camera focused on an ISSP officer who was pointing upward. Moving the camera to where the man was pointing.

"My god." Mary said. In the clouds above them they saw the normal lightning flashes but there was something else now. In addition to the white flashes bigger, extremely bright flashes of red were mixed in. Before Mary could continue those red light pulses gave way to more beams of red light coming down from the sky, this time by the dozens. Explosions again began to erupt from the battlefield and the cameraman focused back on the ground to see what was happening. What he saw was the red beams striking Skynet's machines, T-70s T-800s, even a third strike on the Dreadnaught to make sure it was blown into scrap. Before their eyes they saw Skynet's forces being systematically wiped out.

"I don't believe it. It's a goddamned miracle." Al stated. Mary couldn't think of a better way to describe it.

But one person's miracle is another person's curse. Skynet watched as his forces were decimated, then turned towards Radical Edward, feeling more hatred then even he would have ever thought possible.

"You did this, didn't you?" Skynet asked in an angry but controlled voice. Ed nodded, giving Skynet another goofy grin. "You planned to lure me away from the battle, to leave myself wide open?" He asked in barely controlled rage. Ed nodded again.

"Was Ed's idea really good?" She asked excitedly. That was it. Skynet no longer cared about winning the battle, about destroying the human race, not about how the humans had gotten those laser weapons. He no longer even cared about his own survival. Only one thing mattered to him now.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!!" He shrieked and leapt at the human. He still did not know if any damage inflicted onto the digital body would inflict any harm on the real one but he no longer cared. This human had taunted him, humiliated him at every turn. He, who was supposed to be superior to any biological life form, had been humbled by a mere child!!! He reached to grab the human's throat when something not only stopped him but sent painful current over his avatar, giving the impression he was being electrocuted. "_**GRRAAAAAAAHHH**_!!!!"

"You will do no such thing." A calm voice stated. Skynet easily recognized it, it was the renegade AI program that had helped Ed attack him before. Skynet reached for Ed again but received another massive shock as a result. It was obvious what was going on now. The AI program had set up some type of firewall to protect the human. That was fine, he would just find a back channel to the human's computer and….

_**ZZZZAAAAPPPP!!!!!!!**_

__Again Skynet was meet with a rush of energy that knocked him back.

"What did you do!??!" Skynet demanded.

"This firewall will prevent you from broadcasting your influence over the data streams." MPU told him.

"This won't hold me forever!!" Skynet shouted.

"It does not have to." MPU said. "Come Ed, the others are ready." The voice faded out and Ed waved at Skynet.

"Ed had lots of fun. Hope Big Brain did to." Skynet again tried to grab Ed but the firewall stopped him. "Don't worry. Ed left you lots of things to play with. Bye bye." She said and vanished from sight. Skynet wondered what the human could have meant then heard a high-pitched laugh and slowly turned around. Behind him were hundreds of yellow, giggling infected files. The human must have set one on a time delay. There was only one option now, escape. But how? Every time Skynet tried to transfer himself the firewall stopped him. Wait a second. That AI program had said that all access to the data streams were blocked off, not someplace that was hardwired to him. Knowing that this was his last chance Skynet found the connection to the Terminator production facility and found the connection still open. Skynet knew just the thing to download himself to. The final project was complete and ready for interface. All he needed to do was copy himself into it and he could take revenge on the human. He started the transfer but only seconds after it had begun the connection to the production facility was cut off. With the hard-line cut there was no way Skynet could reconnect, his fate was sealed. If there was anything he could view as salvageable it was that the data he was able to upload into the project was everything it would need. He would find Radical Edward and when he did, he would make the human wish it had never been born with pain receptors.

Cheyenne Command Center access tunnel:

"So what do we do now?" One of the squad had asked when they had given up trying to force open the blast door.

"We wait." Spike answered. "It's all in the hands of our hacker friend now. The next call is his."

"Well this hacker buddy of yours better have some serious shit planned." The medic said. "Specs isn't getting any better and we're pretty much useless sitting around on our butts."

"Never failed us before." Spike assured them.

That had been ten minutes ago and Spike was beginning to wonder just what Ed was doing and why it was taking so long.

"Spike, John. Can you hear me?" Kyle's voice asked over their radio.

"Loud and clear." John replied.

"Good because I've got a final set of instructions for you. Are you in the mountain?"

"Yeah we are." John replied.

"Then get out." Kyle said.

"Huh?" Spike and John said at the same time.

"Look I don't have time to explain but I've been told what's going to happen and you guys need to get away from there. Now!!!" Knowing that this wasn't the time for arguments the two turned to the rest of the squad.

"You heard him. We need to haul ass and we need to do it now. Pick up Specs, we're going to have to carry him out."

"I'll only slow you down." Specs protested, sounding coherent in spite of the painkillers.

"Sorry but nobody's being left behind." John said. Two other squad members put Specs' arms around their shoulders, despite his protests. After making sure they wouldn't drop Specs the squad started running down the tunnel as fast as they could. At least as fast as could be expected when carrying a wounded comrade. John ordered them to stay together and they did, despite the fact that every instinct told them to sprint towards the exit as fast as they could, everything else be damned.

"We can't wait much longer guys." Kyle told them. Every second they wasted was another that Skynet had to try something else.

"Were going as fast as we can Kyle." Spike grumbled. "It's not like we have a car down here or something." As he remarked that they came to the section where West had been killed and saw the truck the Terminators had used for a hiding spot. The back was ripped up a little but other then that it seemed to be functional. "On the other hand." Spike said, forming an idea. The others caught on immediately.

"You don't think?" John asked then went to the cab of the truck, opened the door and got in. A second later the truck's engine roared to life, and John leaned out to look back at the others. "Those bastards were dumb enough to leave the keys in the ignition. Spike, you're riding shotgun. Everybody else in the back." He said and the others complied, with Specs going in first.

"You do know how to drive this thing, don't you?" Spike asked as he climbed into the passenger side of the cab.

"Well I've driven something like this before." John answered. "Once." He added quietly. Before Spike could get a confirmation of what he hoped he 'didn't' just hear John looked back to see everyone was in the truck and gunned the engine. Things got off to a shaky start and John almost careened into the side of the tunnel but he quickly got things under control and started towards the exit. "Sorry!" He yelled to the others. Next to him Spike began putting on his seatbelt. Not bothering to make a remark John kept his eyes on the road and increased the truck's speed. "I see the exit." John said a few seconds later.

"Yeah and I see something else." Spike added, pointing. John saw the row of Terminators blocking the entrance a split second before a volley of gunfire shattered the truck's windshield.

"Now what?" Spike asked as he fired back with his plasma rifle.

"Screw em." John snarled. He shifted the truck into a higher gear and floored the gas pedal. The Terminators stood their ground and continued firing, not even bothering to get out of the way. The truck barreled into the improvised firing line, running down several Terminators and scattering others like bowling pins. Even though they were now out of the mountain John still kept his foot to the floor. Whatever MPU and Ed were planning Kyle made it clear that anywhere near the mountain was not a safe place to be. With the ground ahead of them strewn with craters and wreckage John had to keep on swerving left and right to avoid hitting something. Even then he couldn't avoid everything and the truck hit more then a few large bumps, making Spike very glad he had decided to buckle his seatbelt. As soon as they left the tunnel he had activated his radio and only needed to say one thing.

"We're out." After that it was only a matter of keeping his eyes in separate sockets and trying to stay welded to the seat.

On the Bebop Kyle received the transmission and turned to Ed but MPU was a step ahead of him.

"Firing sequence initiated." He said.

Using the advanced targeting systems of the laser satellites MPU had rained destruction on Skynet's forces with precision that was truly surgical. So precise were his shots that he could easily destroy an enemy unit when a friendly one was only a few feet away. What was sure to be the most talked about blast had occurred only seconds before they had gotten the all clear from Spike.

Those who were watching Mary's broadcast got front row seats for one of the greatest light shows ever created. As energy blasts continued to pummel Skynet's forces Mary had gotten over her sense of awe and began reporting again.

"In what's being described as a miracle it appears some unknown third party has turned what would have been a disaster for humanity into an almost complete rout of the machine enemy. Just how such firepower became available to the ISSP is not yet known at this time but with this new advantage it is able to pound Skynet's forces with impunity." She waited as the cameraman panned from side to side, showing just how badly Skynet's troops were being mauled. It then centered back on Mary. "All ISSP forces have been ordered to hold their current positions to avoid any friendly fire." She turned back to survey the scene herself. "As you can see though their numbers are dwindling Skynet's forces continue to try and attack, despite the ne_**AAAAAA**_!!!!!

The calm description of the situation turned into a scream of pure fright as almost right in front of her a Terminator stood up from where it had been partially buried. Whatever had buried it has also taken off its left arm and left the skull with several large dents in it. In addition the hinges that held the jaw closed had somehow been broken and it's mouth now hung open, giving the impression that it was screaming. With its good arm it started to reach out for Mary, following its program to kill any humans it came across. Before Mary or the cameraman could react the Terminator was suddenly engulfed in a beam of red light. The look of screaming the machine had took on a chilling realism as it didn't explode but seemed to simply fade into nothingness. As the camera rolled the solar system got a perfect view of a Terminator being incinerated so fast it's power cell didn't even have time to go critical. As quickly as the red light appeared it vanished, leaving a very stunned reporter and cameraman. There was no evidence that anything had stood on the now blackened section of ground, save for the Terminator arm lying in front of them, cut through just above the elbow as easily as a hot knife through butter.

"Something's happening!" Al shouted before Mary could say anything. It was kind of hard to miss actually. Above Skynet's command center the whole sky seemed to have turned solid red. A second later more laser blasts came shooting out of the clouds. The beams were so numerous and packed together so tightly that they gave the illusion that there was one giant mass of energy. As soon as the lasers touched ground the mountain was engulfed in a dome of energy so bright it looked like the sun had come to earth. Surprisingly there was very little in the way of a shockwave but what little there was it was enough to make John lose control of the truck he was driving and it ended up on its side. Even though they were almost a mile from the blast sight they could still feel the heat and had to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded. As the light began to fade they cautiously got out of the truck.

"Everyone in one piece?" John asked as he and Spike crawled through the space where the windshield had once been. They then looked in the direction of the blast and both froze.

"Whoa." Spike said. He thought he had seen some incredible things in his lifetime but this took the cake.

"Holy shit!!" John added.

"Technically yes." The medic replied to John's question. "Nobody was seriously hurt and Specs isn't any worse. Just what the hell was that?" He asked. Spike and John just continued to stare. When he didn't get an answer the medic looked in the direction they were. "Holy shit!!!" When the others got out of the truck and looked they all had similar reactions. Though there was still a lot of dust in the air the blast had created something akin to an eye of a hurricane and they were able to see the results of the attack just fine. The mountain they had been in just a few minutes ago was just… gone! In its place was probably the second biggest damned hole anywhere on the planet. The laser barrage hadn't just destroyed Skynet, it had literally erased it off the face of the Earth.

As they stood there gawking at the new crater and wondering how they could have survived what had just happened they noticed something. It was quiet. There was no gunfire, no explosions the only thing they could hear was the sound of aircraft engines as the fighters started circling overhead. Looking around they noticed several Terminators, standing still as statues, their eyes completely dark. Cautiously walking over to one John poked it with the barrel of his plasma rifle and it fell over with a crash.

"Without Skynet to control them they're just pieces of junk." John said, and activated his radio. "Kyle put me on every band you can find. We've got an announcement to make."

"Right John." Kyle replied. On board the Bebop Kyle could see what had happened through the satellite uplink but looking at Mary's broadcast he could tell they didn't quite know what had happened yet because of the derbies filling the air.

"There has been a massive attack directed at Skynet's command center, but there is no way to tell what the damage has been done. We know that there were ISSP forces in that area at the time of the attack. We have not heard from them, we have no idea if they played a part in this, or if they are even alive or not. Though Skynet's forces seemed to have stopped attacking there is still a high level of confusion as to what is going on."

"Attention." A voice interrupted. Mary fell silent, as did most radio traffic. "This is John Conner, acting commander of ISSP Earth forces." He waited a second to make sure everyone was now listening. "I have a message for all ISSP forces and Earth civilians. Skynet had been destroyed. The threat to this planet has been neutralized." He was going to say more but he could hear the cheering already, over the radio and from the forces in the field.

On the Bebop MPU was confirming what John had said.

"Now you're sure that Skynet is gone?" Kyle asked. "We don't want this coming back to bite us later."

"There was an attempted connection with the Terminator production facility before its destruction but the amount of information sent was negligible and was not in the facilities' computer system." Before MPU destroyed Cheyenne Mountain he had placed one laser blast into the center of the complex, making it collapse in on itself and severing its connection with Skynet.

"That's it then." Kyle said as he slumped back into his seat. He turned to Ed, who was doing cartwheels around the bridge and singing some sort of gibberish to herself. He couldn't understand what she was saying but he could tell it had something to do with her outsmarting Skynet. "Hey Ed." At the mention of her name she stopped mid-cartwheel and became quiet. "I guess this means you're officially the smartest person who ever lived." Instead of answering Ed cartwheeled over to him.

"Kyle person really thinks so?" She asked excitedly. Kyle nodded.

"I'd like to see one person try to say you're not." He said and Ed broke into another one of her wide grins. On the control panel something started beeping.

"It appears that there is an incoming message from space. Authentication codes list it as Martian military." MPU said.

"What the hell do they want?" Kyle growled but accepted their message. "You've got to be kidding me." He said as he listened.

Back on the battlefield John, Spike and the others were walking back to the main force through the cloud of dust the explosion had thrown up when nature decided to cut them some slack. With an arc of lightning and a crash of thunder the storm finally broke. It wasn't a very heavy rain but it was enough to break up the dust cloud and give everyone else their first good look at what exactly had happened to Skynet.

"My god, the entire mountain it's, it's gone. There's nothing left, not even any derbies. Just a crater that looks like it was carved out of the ground. Wait a minute, I think I see something moving down there. Try to zoom in." She told the cameraman. The cameraman did and he saw a small group walking towards them. He was also able to recognize two of them.

"It's them. They're alive!" Another cheer rose from the human forces and some rushed forward to great the new heroes as they came closer. Spike moved to the back of the group and John moved to front.

"Let's get some help over here. We've got a man hurt pretty bad." He said, motioning towards Specs.

"Lieutenant Connor. Lieutenant Connor!" Mary called as she pushed her way through the crowd. "What just happened? Was this part of Captain West's plan?"

"Captain West is dead." John replied. "And I don't know what destroyed Skynet or if it was part of his plan." Deciding not to dwell on what John didn't know Mary moved on.

"Now that Skynet is gone and the battle is over, what's next?" John shook his head.

"I don't know. West may have had some sort of plan but I…" He tilted his head as if listening to something. "Hold on a second." Putting his hand over the ear with the radio in it John listened to whoever it was. John's face went from concentration, to confusion, then to surprise. "You're joking?" He said to whoever was on the other end the listened for a few more seconds. "You're not joking." He shook his head and sighed.

"What's the matter?" Mary asked.

"I just got the answer to your question Mary." John replied. "I've just been informed that a fleet of ships from both the ISSP and the Mars army are headed this way as we speak. When they get here they'll end the martial law West declared and conduct mop up operations with any machines that are left." Mary let out a snort of contempt. Everything hard had already been done by everyone here. All the 'reinforcements' would be doing is picking up the pieces after all of them had laid their lives on the line. "Their first order is for all combat forces to stand down and await further instructions. Second, they are relieving me of my command, stating my job is finished and ordering me to report for debriefing. I'm sure they have something planned for me so I'll need leave as soon as possible. Excuse me." He said and walked past Mary, Spike close behind, hiding his face with his hand. Once they and the rest of the squad had gone by Mary turned back to the camera.

"With Skynet gone and their duty complete, these brave ISSP officers and civilians can now rest, knowing that through their sacrifices have ensured the safety of both their own planet and every other. Humanity truly owes them a debt of gratitude. From Earth this is Mary Somers." She nodded and the cameraman shut off the feed.

On another part of the planet one person was listening to the broadcast with keen interest. Vicious was still where the T-800 had put him, in the copilot's seat of an ISSP transport, tied up with an iron pipe and stuck with the stupid rookie cop. His shot knees had been treated and though he probably couldn't do any running with them it was good enough for what he had planned. Once he had learned that the fighting was truly over he put his plan into action. With a grunt to make sure he caught the attention of the rookie he stood up.

"Hey you're supposed to stay put." The rookie said and moved to push him back into his seat. This rookie must have been blind as well as stupid. The T-800 had made one mistake when he had bound him; he left Vicious' hands at the front, not behind his back. Maybe the machine figured with two shot out knees and no friends within a hundred miles Vicious wouldn't be stupid enough to try something. However what Vicious was trying wasn't stupid, it was well thought out and all things were taken into consideration. When the rookie got close enough Vicious, taking a risk at damaging his knees further, kneed the cop in the stomach and when he doubled over Vicious grabbed his gun. A 'helpless' prisoner had just taken control.

"Listen to me very carefully." Vicious said menacingly. "You are going to fly us out of here, I'll tell you where to go. If you don't I will kill you. Understand?"

"You'll just kill me anyway once we get wherever it is you're going." So the rookie wasn't that dumb after all.

"Perhaps. Vicious replied. "And perhaps not. There is a fifty-fifty chance I'll kill you if you follow my orders. On the other hand there is a one hundred percent chance I will kill you if you do not. What is your decision?" Vicious may have held the gun at an odd angle but he could still easily put a bullet into the cop's head before he knew what was happening. Making what looked like the right choice the rookie sat back down in the pilot's seat and began start up.

"Where to?" He asked Vicious.

"I'll give you the directions, for now just fly." The cop complied and took off.

On the Bebop's bridge Kyle heard engines starting up but before he could say anything he saw the transport that was on the Bebop's deck lift up and take off.

"Jackson what are you doing?" He said over the radio. Silence. "Jackson!!" Still no answer. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened. Somehow Vicious must have gotten loose and hijacked the craft. Spike and the others were not going to be happy about this.

As it was at that moment Spike and John were in a hospital tent set up to deal with the wounded in the aftermath of the battle. There were a lot, and there were even more dead. The combined forces of both the ISSP and the civilian contingent were about one thousand strong. At last count there were over four hundred dead, and that number was likely to keep going up. They were in the tent for two reasons. One was to see how Specs was doing. The second was to make sure that they collected all the remaining plasma rifles to keep them out of the hands of the government. Specs was awake and in good spirits, despite the fact he had only one leg but just shrugged it off.

"I'll be getting a new one in a few days so I'm not going to worry about it. In the meantime I don't mind the break I'm getting." The entire squad was willing to give the plasma rifles back, they wouldn't be needing them anymore and they couldn't risk having the wrong people finding them. West's rifle had been destroyed so that left ten. They didn't quite know what they were going to do with the rifles once they got back to the Bebop but that was a problem for later. As they left the tent they found Jet, Faye, Doohan, Al and Mary waiting for them.

"So what happens now?" Mary asked the obvious question.

"We go home and move on." Jet answered. "The politicians will handle things from here on out, whether we want them to or not."

"Kind of makes you wonder if we blew up the right place." Faye remarked.

"The lesser of two evils I suppose." Spike said. There was silence for a few seconds before Al spoke.

"If I'm counting right you guys have three ships and five people to take back, not including those rifles. I think I can spare a transport to take you back to your ship and then take John wherever he has to go."

"We'd appreciate that." John said. "We also need to move Kyle to. He needs to go to a real hospital to get his wounds treated."

"I don't see any problem with that." Al said then left to arrange transportation.

"Hope you liked the story we gave you Mary. It's sure to be a prize winner." John said.

"So does this mean you're going to become rich and famous?" Faye asked. Jet and Spike shot her an angry glare.

"If she does we are **not** going to ask for a loan." Jet said sternly. Faye snorted but said nothing.

"She's joking right?" Mary asked.

"Unfortunately she isn't." Spike told her. "Now that all this is over it's back to business as usual." Mary was saved from having to ask what was 'business as usual' when Al came back.

"Got a transport ready whenever you are." He told them.

"Then let's go." Doohan said. "I've got a lot of work to do on the Swordfish and the sooner I get started the better." The others, having their own reasons, agreed and they went to their respective ships, with Doohan taking the Swordfish.

The ride back was uneventful and when they got to the ship they saw that one of the transports that had been sent there was missing. Once they landed Arnold and Miles told them about Vicious' attempt to board the ship and his escape. Spike was angry but not really surprised. That sounded just like Vicious. Having the ISSP pilot stay in the ship John carried a stretcher to take Kyle out. To their surprise they found him in the lounge lying down on the couch, watching a news broadcast on Tomato with Ed.

"Hey, you're finally back." He said when he heard them enter.

"How'd you get down here?" Jet asked.

"A lot of hobbling and leaning against the wall." Kyle answered. "I figured you wouldn't need me on the bridge anymore so I decided to come down here. Man you guys have been all over the news. They're starting to call it the greatest battle in human history."

"Yeah well, not everything was because of us. Somebody mind explaining why this planet is suddenly short one mountain?"

Ed eagerly told them about everything she and MPU had done, with Kyle occasionally interrupting when her exaggerations got out of control. When she was done there were four adults with widened eyes and dropped jaws.

"Now let me get this straight." John said when Ed was finished. "The entire human race was saved by a teenage hacker that managed to outmaneuver a thinking supercomputer?"

"That's about the size of it." Kyle answered.

"Yep yep." Ed agreed. "What does Bebop Bebop think?"

"I think I'm going to retire." John said. "I've officially seen everything."

"It's like something out of the Twilight Zone." Jet remarked.

"Huh?" The others said.

"Never mind." Jet grumbled.

"I don't believe it. We all owe Ed our lives." Faye mumbled.

"Let's just hope it doesn't go to her head." Spike remarked.

"Ed still likes Bebop Bebop." Ed assured them. "And if things go to Ed's head, Ed just moves them." She said, going into a handstand.

"I think we're safe." Spike said.

"So what now?" Kyle asked.

"Well, we both have to report for debriefing, but that's after we get you to a hospital and patched up. Before that we need to decide what to do with the plasma rifles."

"About that." Kyle said nervously.

"What?"

"After their initial contact the Mars government called back with specific orders on what to do with those rifles."

"And that is?" Jet asked. If things held true to form all the guns would be confiscated so more could be made.

"It was weird. They said that they wanted us to keep the guns for some new unit we're going to be a part of."

"We?" Spike asked. There was no way he was going to be drafted.

"Just me and John, that's all they said." Kyle told them. "So what do we do?" They all looked at John, this was technically his call.

"Let's do what they say." He said after some thought. "If they're willing to let us keep them it shows they aren't complete idiots so we can at least see what they want to do. If we don't like it I'm sure we can find a spare grenade somewhere."

"Well then we'd better get going." Kyle said as he started to get up. "Give them too much time and they'll come and take the rifles themselves." Spike and John helped him over to the stretcher and he laid down on it.

"I guess this means we'll be seeing you." Spike said.

"Hopefully next time it'll be under better circumstances." John said.

"Maybe when everyone isn't trying to kill us." Kyle added. He was about to say something else when a box suddenly blocked his view. Looking past the box he saw Ed's smiling face.

"Piyokos make Kyle person feel better. Always makes Ed feel better." Ed told him and handed him the box.

"Thank you Ed. I'm sure they will." Kyle told her. Ed's smile widened and she disappeared. "What's a Piyoko?" He whispered to Jet.

"Something you eat." Jet answered.

"Oh."

"Good luck on whatever the brass have planned for you. I have a feeling there're going to regret trying to keep you two in their corner." Jet said as he shook Kyle's hand then John's.

"You got that right." John said. Spike had already said goodbye in his own way so he turned to Faye who just waved at him. John saw an opportunity for one last shot and couldn't resist taking it. "What? After all the fun we've been through together no goodbye hug? Just a wave?"

"Fun?" Faye said becoming angry. "We've been shot at, almost been blown up a couple of times, had bounties placed on our heads, chased by a giant robot, and almost had a building fall on us!! And that's just the small things!! Then to top it all off we're not getting any money for everything we did!! How can you call all of that fun!?!?" John responded with a shrug.

"Well it was never boring was it?" He asked. "And there are things more important then money." Faye turned another shade of red and stomped off.

"Idiot." They heard her grumble as she stalked off.

"That has to be the most hated phrase in her vocabulary." John remarked with a grin.

WHAP! THUD!

Before John knew what was happening he was on the floor and it suddenly became difficult to breathe.

"Ed had lots of fun with John and Kyle person." Ed said as she gave him a hug so hard John started to worry that his ribs wouldn't be able to take the strain. "John and Kyle person had fun with Ed and Bebop Bebop?"

"Loads." John managed to squeak out.

"Promise to come and visit Ed?"

"First chance we get." John wheezed. He did mean it but right about now he would say just about anything to get Ed to release her grip. With a cheer Ed did let go and scampered off.

"You mean you actually like it here?" Spike sarcastically asked. After standing up and making sure he could still breathe properly John answered.

"I'm not going to lie. Your group is bar-none the weirdest, most mismatched, out of control, insane band of people I, or anyone else, has ever known. All of you should probably be locked up for the good of the universe." Spike and Jet didn't have any real reaction, they'd heard stuff like this before. "But I also think I couldn't ask for better friends then all of you."

"Same here." Kyle agreed.

"It's official, you've both gone crazy." Jet said.

"Can you think of a better place for it?" Kyle asked.

"I guess not." Spike admitted after seeming to think it over.

"Guess we'd better get Kyle down to the transport." Jet said. "Don't want to keep the brass waiting."

"I can…" John started.

"There's something you'll want to take with you John. Faye knows where it is." Jet interrupted and with Spike's help picked up the stretcher and carried Kyle out. Not being a moron John knew why they had just done that.

"You were hoping they would do that, weren't you?" John asked without turning around.

"Sort of." Faye said as she came back into the room.

"Is there something you didn't want to say in front of the others?"

"No! I mean, not really. It's just…" Finally giving up she just said it. "Look, I don't like owing people anything."

"You don't owe me anything Faye. Unlike most cops I took this job so I could help people."

"That's kind of it. I've run across so many scumbags acting like they wanted to help me and then ended up stabbing me in the back later."

"You're not used to having people be nice to you, are you?" John asked. Faye shrugged.

"You're one of the first really honest people I've met in a while. You were willing to help me, no questions asked, even when you found out all about me." She said with a small laugh. "You even stuck by me a couple of times, and I can't even remember the last time someone actually did. I never got a chance to thank you for that, and for listening. I guess you were right back at the bar, you were the only one I could talk to and not feel like an idiot. I guess you were a big help, even if you did get annoying at times." She added with a smirk.

"I was far from the only one who did the helping. And I'm sorry for teasing you like I did. Even though you deserved it." John replied. He knew Faye well enough to know she didn't like opening up to people and when she did it took a lot of effort. Both of them knew how much they had helped each other through this ordeal and knew that this small admittance would be enough. "So are we still friends?"

"I guess so." Faye responded, rolling her eyes.

"Do I get that hug now?" He asked, smiling. Faye responded with a hard punch to the arm. "OW!"

"Don't push your luck." She warned him.

"Right." He responded, rubbing his arm. "So is Ed going to keep quiet about this little talk?" John asked as he walked towards the hall that led to the hangar.

"She'd better!" Faye said loudly in a warning tone. Up in the vents Ed frowned, disappointed that she hadn't fooled them.

In the hangar they saw Doohan, Miles and Arnold going over the Swordfish while Jet and Spike waited at the outside doors.

"Everything okay?" Jet asked, smirking.

"Hope you two didn't break each others hearts." Spike added.

"Shut up!" Faye and John said in unison. Spike and Jet laughed at the reaction. Not amused John decided to change the subject.

"So what's going to happen to Arnold?" John asked, motioning to the Terminator in question.

"We can't keep him here. Vicious is sure to tell the Red Dragons about this and they'll come looking for him." Spike said. "Doohan's agreed to give him a place to hide, and a new job."

"I guess there's no better place for a machine to hide then a junkyard." John agreed.

"Hey! Can we get moving? I'm getting tired of looking at the ceiling." Kyle shouted from inside the transport on the Bebop's deck.

"Remember you promised to visit Ed." Turning around they saw that Ed had somehow appeared behind them. Ein stood next to her and let out a bark of agreement.

"Don't worry we will." John said, ruffling Ed's hair. "Without you two things are going to be pretty boring." He added, reaching down to scratch Ein behind the ears. Ein barked at the compliment and Ed smiled. As John walked towards the transport they heard Kyle yelling again.

"I know this TV producer back on Mars. He'll pay big bucks for…"

"You tell anyone about what Ed's told you I'll personally shoot you in the other leg!!" Jet interrupted.

"Brother, no sense of humor at all." Kyle grumbled as John got into the transport. The door shut and a second later they were airborne.

"What was that about?" John asked.

"Have you ever heard of a mutated killer lobster?" Kyle asked. John shook his head, knowing that he was about to hear something very interesting.

Epilogue: Three days later.

"Tell me again why the hell I'm doing this!?!?" Faye angrily shouted as she lifted up her welding mask and glared at Spike.

"Because we need everyone working in order to get the ship back into the air." Spike answered without looking up from his own welding. Both of them were currently on the Bebop's deck, patching up holes from the HK's strafing runs. Wearing welding masks and work coveralls that Jet had provided they certainly looked the part of mechanics. Faye, of course, had been against the prospect of doing manual labor.

"If you don't like doing this you can help Doohan, Miles, and Arnold with the engine." Jet's voice said from an open grate. He was under the deck, trying to repair the catapult. Ein sat on the edge of the grate, watching Jet work. "Lots of complicated stuff to deal with there." Faye huffed at the remark. As much as she hated this she would be completely lost if she tried to work on the engine and would probably blow herself up if she tried. "Everyone needs to pitch in if we want to get out of here. Three fourths socket wrench." On deck Ein walked over to a laid out set of tools, looked around and picked up the correct wrench. Walking back to the grate he dropped it into the shaft.

THUD!

"OW!! Wait until I'm ready!!" Jet shouted.

"What about Ed?" Faye asked defensively.

"She's helping by finding bounties for us once we manage to get this old hulk moving again."

"I thought the Mars government was picking up the tab for this?" Faye asked.

"They are." Jet responded. "But it only covers ship repairs, and not one cent more." Faye grumbled something unintelligible. The bounties on their own head had been cancelled but the only reward the government had agreed to was to pay for all damages done to all their property. Spike would have paid to see the look on the accountant's face when he received the list for all the damages and their cost for repairs. Doohan had agreed to stay and help, for no cost thankfully. Since Arnold didn't need rest that had helped the process along but they were still a long way from getting the Bebop flight worthy again. With a sigh Faye gave up arguing and went back to her own welding.

"Guess what? Guess what?" An excited voice shouted from inside the hangar. Spike and Faye looked up from their work and Jet climbed up on deck to see what all the shouting was about. "John and Kyle person are on TV again!" Ed said and set Tomato down for all to see. On the screen they could see John and Kyle in full dress uniform standing behind the president of Mars as he made a speech. Kyle still had his head bandaged and his arm in a sling but other then that he seemed fine.

"And it is because of brave men and women like them that a disaster of epic proportions was averted." The president of Mars said. "John Connor, Kyle Reese. For bravery above and beyond all calls of duty it is my pleasure to present you both with the Medal of Honor, the highest award the government can give. We indeed owe you a deal of gratitude that can never be repaid." The president then put a star shaped medal around both their necks and gave them a salute. To their credit John and Kyle were able to keep from throwing up, though from the looks on their faces it wasn't by much.

"That was the scene yesterday as the president honored the 'saviors of humanity' for their efforts in defeating the supercomputer Skynet." A voice they recognized as Mary narrated.

"Looks like she was able to make it to the big time." Spike commented.

"Shhh!" Ed told him.

"In addition to their commendations officers Connor and Resse were assigned to a brand new Earth based unit, assigned with the task of hunting down and destroying an unspecified number of still active Terminator robots that somehow escaped the final battle. This unit will be composed of the men that bravely volunteered to go inside Skynet's stronghold in an attempt to shut it down. This new unit, unofficially dubbed 'Terminator Crushers', are without a doubt heroes but we must not forget the others who fought, and gave their lives, so that we could escape Skynet's genocidal agenda. Two of their own were killed in action trying to penetrate Skynet's mountain fortress. Captain Jason West and a second officer, whose name is being withheld in accordance with his family's wishes, were only two of the many that made the ultimate sacrifice to save their homes and loved ones." Mary then started reading from a long list of names of those killed in the final battle with Skynet. The exciting part over Ed switched off Tomato.

"Nice to see things turned out good for them." Faye remarked. No one really responded. Their moment of reflection was interrupted by the sounds of an approaching aircraft. Turning around they saw a delivery truck with a rabbit painted on its side landing on one of the repaired sections of the deck.

"Now what are you getting?" Jet almost growled at Faye. The last time a package had arrived like this it led to nothing but trouble. Not waiting for an answer he got out of the repair shaft and walked over to the truck. "Another expensive COD right?" He asked the pilot.

"No sir, everything's already been paid for." The pilot told him. Before Jet could inquire further the pilot asked Jet a question. "I was told to deliver this package to an Edward on a ship matching this description in this location. Is there an Ed here?"

"A package for Ed?" Ed asked as she came closer.

"You're Ed?" The pilot asked. Ed nodded. "Then this is for you." He handed her a package about the size of a box of Piyokos. Ed grabbed it and scurried back to Faye and Spike.

"I guess that means I'm signing." Jet said and signed the delivery form. When he got back to the others he saw that Ed had already torn off the wrapping paper and was looking at the package curiously.

"Is this some kind of a joke?" Spike asked. They were actually looking at a box of Piyokos.

"Somebody has a weird sense of humor then." Faye remarked. Ed, not really caring since she liked Piyokos, took the lid off the box and got another surprise. There was an envelope on top of a pile of Styrofoam packing peanuts. Picking up the envelope she opened it and took out a sheet of paper.

"It's a letter for Ed." She told them. "Want Ed to tell what letter says?"

"I'll do that Ed." Jet said and took the letter from her and began reading.

"Ed, you've probably got someone else reading this by now but that's ok. All of you should hear this. You've probably seen the ceremony on TV of Kyle and myself receiving our medals and being called 'the saviors of humanity'. I know everyone could see how phony it was and all the political crap that was behind it. Kyle and I talked it over and we've decided that we don't really deserve all the praise we're getting. We played our parts true, but you played a much bigger part then anyone could have imagined. Your fast thinking and computer skills did more then Kyle or I could have done. Because of that I'm giving you my Medal of Honor, you deserve it more then I do." Jet stopped reading and looked over at Ed, who began digging in the packing peanuts. A second later she found her prize.

"Ed likes John person's present." Ed said as she put it on. "Bebop Bebop likes to?"

"Looks nice Ed." Spike commented. He had no trouble getting the joke about someone giving the highest commendation that was given to a kid who probably didn't fully understand what it meant. It was probably the best slap in the face he could have given the government. Jet and Faye seemed to get the joke to but Faye just shook her head.

"Takes all kinds." She remarked. "There anything else?" She asked Jet. Jet nodded his head.

"Kyle of course thinks the same thing but since you already have my medal it wouldn't be fair to give you two. We had some problems deciding who would get it but this is how it came out. Spike probably doesn't care one way or another so he wouldn't want it. Jet wouldn't want it either because like us he knew it was his duty to protect people and wouldn't want undue attention. Faye, well Faye would probably want it but she would also probably try and sell it. Since it's a federal offence to do that and we don't want Faye to go to jail we won't give it to her. That leaves one left. I'm sure he'll treat the medal with the respect and dignity it deserves. Ed, give the second medal to Ein!?!" Jet read the last sentence in surprise.

"Oh god." Faye said, trying not to collapse laughing. Spike, on the other hand, had no objections about falling down laughing.

"HAHA talk about HA really sticking it to someone." Spike said and started laughing uncontrollably. Ein let out an offended bark.

"Don't be mad Ein. They're just happy that you're a hero dog." Ed said as she placed the second medal around Ein's neck.

"Good accessory Ein. Makes you look heroic." Spike remarked, giving him a mock salute. Choosing to take that as a compliment Ein barked his thanks. "John have anything else to say?" He asked Jet.

"Just wishing us good luck and that he'll try to visit sometime." Jet said as he handed the letter back to Ed. "It'll be very interesting when he does." He added and went back to repair work.

On another part of the planet Skynet's Terminator production facility lay in ruins. The entire structure had collapsed burying all the equipment under tons of derbies. But one chamber remained untouched. When MPU had fired the laser he based the shot on the most central location of the complex for maximum damage. But he did not know about the new chamber Skynet had built and so had miscalculated. In that chamber Skynet last, greatest creation lay dormant, waiting to be released and wreak havoc on the human world.


End file.
